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THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 





























































































































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“‘NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS.’” , 

(See page 26) 




The Christmas 
oMakers’ Club 

BY 

EDITH A. SAWYER 


Illustrated by 

ADA C. WILLIAMSON 


Of glad things there be . . . four; 

A lark abooe the old nest blithely singing, 

A wild rose clinging 

In safety to a rock.: a shepherd bringing 
A lamb, found, in his arms. 

And Christmas bells a-ringing. 

Willis Boyd Allen 



L. C. PAGE Si COMPANY 

BOSTON MDCCCCVIII 




- nun muii , , , — 

LIBRARY of G0NGRES3X 
1 wo Cooies rteceiveei 

JUL 31 130S 

I Ht>vyn&iu entry 

iXua / tqt? 

CLASS?/) XXCi mo. f 

"2 i 3 3 $ <r 

COPY b. 


Copyright , /pod? 

By L. C. Page & Company 

(incorporated) 

/?// rights reserved 


First Impression, May, 1908 



COLONIAL PRESS 

Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds 6° Co. 
Boston, U. S. A. 


JHargaret anto 
iDorotfjg anU ’Nita 



CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Club Gathers for Work and Play . i 
II. Prince Gray Owl 38 

III. What the Woods Gave .... 83 

IV. The Club Goes Visiting . . . .124 

V. A Little Old Lady’s Doll . . . . 155 

VI. The Boy in the Club 195 

VII. Gray Owl Santa Claus .... 23 7 



























LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


‘“NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS’” 


{See page 20) . ..... 

“ ‘ Yes, gray owl,’ she answered ” 

“ Soothing the child who clung to him so pas 

SIONATELY ” 

‘“What did I see but a black-eyed doll’” 

“ The twins made a striking picture ” 

“ * But we want you ! ’ wailed the club ” . 


/ 


Frontispiece 
62 


149 

174 / 

226 

244 





































THE CHRISTMAS 
MAKERS’ CLUB 


CHAPTER I 

THE CLUB GATHERS FOR WORK AND PLAY 

Didst thou never know 
The joy of following the path untrod? 

— Margaret E. Sherwood: Persephone. 

OW I wish we had something new and 
interesting to do Friday afternoons ! ” 
said Elsa Dan forth, a slim girl in a black 
coat, with a soft, wide black felt hat 
set back on the yellow hair which floated like a 
cloud of pale gold over her shoulders. Elsa was 
the tallest of the three girls who had hurried away 
from school together that gray mid-November 
afternoon. They were just now turning into 
Washington Avenue. 

“ It’s too cold to play outdoors,” said Betty 
White, dancing on ahead, her bag of school-books 
swung over her shoulder. Betty’s brown eyes 
1 



2 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


danced like her feet, and so did the capes to her long 
blue coat and the wavy brown hair tied back with 
a bow of wide white ribbon. 

“ Isn’t there something we can do? ” asked Alice 
Holt, the youngest and smallest of the three, hurry- 
ing to keep up with the others. 

“ Play dolls or play school is all I can think of,” 
said Betty. “ O Elsa, we might go to your house 
and play with you ! ” she added, turning to Elsa. 
Betty had wanted to have a good look at the great 
house where Elsa Dan forth lived with her grand- 
mother. Betty had been in the house only twice, and 
then but for a few moments, since the Dan f orths 
came there in September. 

“ But — ” began Elsa. Then she stopped ; she 
could not bear to say that her grandmother had told 
her not to bring children home with her to play. 

“ I tell you what let’s do,” Alice exclaimed, be- 
fore Betty could say anything. “ Let’s start some 
kind of a club, and have it meet Friday afternoons. 
We might have it a Christmas Club.” 

“ Only grown-up people have clubs,” objected 
Betty instantly; she was still thinking of what fun 
it would be to go all over the Dan forth house. 

“ We could have a club, though we are children,” 
said Elsa eagerly. “I am almost twelve years old.” 


WORK AND PLAY 


3 


“ I am only eleven/’ said Betty, who, however, 
was nearly as tall as Elsa. 

“ And I am only ten and a half,” said Alice, run- 
ning' a little ahead, her blue eyes very wide open 
with interest. “ But it truly doesn’t matter how old 
we are; we all play together and we like the same 
things.” Alice was a quaint little figure. She 
looked like a rather shabbily dressed doll, with her 
blue eyes and pink cheeks, her thick blue coat which 
came just to her knees, and a shaggy blue tam-o’- 
shanter, below which hung very smooth hair cut 
short around her neck. 

“ If we have a club, where will it meet? ” asked 
Elsa. 

“ It can come to my house,” said Betty, beginning 
to be interested, and dancing on ahead, backward 
now. 

“ It can meet at my house, too, though I live 
rather far away,” said Alice. 

Elsa walked on slowly, behind the others. She 
alone did not offer to have the club meet at her 
home. 

They were directly in front of Betty’s home, a 
large and pleasant-looking house on this main ave- 
nue of the suburban town of Berkeley. “ Come 
into my house and we will start the club now,” 


4 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


urged Betty, running up the front steps. But she 
stopped as Elsa said : “I must go 1 and ask grand- 
mother if I can belong.” 

“ O, of course she will let you,” exclaimed Betty. 
But Elsa, with flying yellow hair, was already half- 
way home. So Betty and Alice waited on the top 
step. 

In a very short time Elsa came running back and 
announced breathlessly: “Yes — I can belong — 
and I can stay till five o’clock.” Her usually pale 
face was rosy from the haste, and her wide-brimmed 
hat had slipped down over her loose, fair hair. 

It would be hard to find three girls more unlike 
than these three good friends who went hurrying 
into the house together. Elsa, the oldest, had a 
sensitive face and deep violet-gray eyes, which, with 
her soft, silky hair, gave her a delicate, almost 
flower-like look. Betty, next in age, was a lively, 
wide-awake girl with merry brown eyes and bright 
cheeks; she was always a leader, and sometimes a 
wilful one, in any fun or adventure. Alice — 
“ Baby Alice,” as Betty often teasingly called her 
— had softly rounded cheeks, big blue eyes, and a 
fair, high forehead. Alice was a dreamy, rather 
quiet child, but everybody loved her for her unself- 
ish, affectionate ways. 


WORK AND PLAY 


5 


Betty opened the hall door and went ahead 
through the wide hall. “ Hang your coats and 
things here in the closet/’ she cried, taking off her 
overshoes, “ and come on up to the nursery. We 
can have it all to ourselves.” 

Elsa’s eyes shone with pleasure as she looked 
around the hospitable hall and at the huge fireplace 
where a bright fire burned. She always felt the 
homelikeness of the Whites’ house the moment she 
came into it. It was so- unlike her grandmother’s 
house, where everything was stiff and stately. 

Elsa especially loved the nursery, Betty’s bed- 
room and playroom, for it had picture-paper of chil- 
dren resting under trees and of wandering brooks 
which led to other children and other trees ; it had 
also a broad window-shelf filled with bright-blos- 
soming geraniums, and above, a cage with three 
tiny East Indian strawberry-birds ; and — best of 
all to Elsa — a row of dolls, large and small, on a 
long, chintz-covered window-seat between Betty’s 
blue-and-white bed on one side and her dolls’ house 
on the other. Indeed, Elsa loved Betty’s room quite 
as much as Betty herself did. 

Alice had never been in the room before. “ O, 
what dear, lovely birds ! ” she exclaimed, clasping 
her dimpled hands and looking up with round, sur- 


6 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


prised eyes at the three mites of birds, brown with 
red spots, red eyes and red beaks, and legs so thin 
and needle-like as to seem scarcely strong enough 
to support even the tiny bodies. 

“ They are the dearest things,” said Betty en- 
thusiastically. “ Uncle John brought them to me 
from India. I am glad there are three of them, 
because if one dies there will be two left.” 

“ But what if two die? ” asked Alice anxiously. 

That, however, Betty did not want to think of, so 
she said hurriedly : “ Come on, let’s decide about 
the club.” 

“ What shall we name it? ” asked Elsa, who had 
settled herself on the soft rug by the bedside, with 
one elbow on the window-seat so that she could bet- 
ter look at the dolls. 

“ The Friday Club,” suggested Betty, who was 
sitting at the foot of the bed. 

“ I like 4 Club of Three,’ ” said Alice, turning 
away from the strawberry birds with a little sigh 
of happiness. 

“ I don’t like either of those names,” said Elsa. 
“ Why not call it the Christmas Club, if that is 
what it is going to be? ” 

Anybody can have a Christmas Club,” objected 
Betty, tightening the white ribbon bow on her hair. 


WORK AND PLAY 


7 


“ Why not ask somebody to name it for us ? ” 
suggested Alice. 

“ No, we must name it ourselves, and keep the 
name a secret/’ came Betty’s quick answer. 

“ Then let’s choose one of us president, and let 
her name it,” said Elsa, who had Betty’s smallest 
doll in her lap now. 

“ All right,” replied Betty, looking from Elsa to 
Alice, whose eyes were again fixed upon the birds. 
Then, because Alice was always peacemaker, Betty 
said : “ I will choose Alice for president.” 

“ And I will choose Elsa,” said Alice quickly, 
looking around. 

“ I will choose Betty,” said Elsa. 

“ Dear me ! ” cried Betty, jumping up so suddenly 
that the tiny brown-and-red birds began fluttering 
around their cage ; “ we are all president, and that 
means nobody is president, and we haven’t any name 
either.” 

“ I think we’d better give up the club,” said Alice, 
seeing trouble ahead. 

“ It was you who wanted to start it, and now you 
are backing out, Alice,” cried Betty, stamping her 
foot impatiently. The little birds had a panic of 
fluttering. 

“ I’m not backing out, only if we are going to 


8 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


get into a fuss the first thing, we might as well give 
it up,” said Alice wisely. 

“ Why not play dolls ? ” suggested Elsa, noticing 
that the hands of the blue-and- white clock on the 
shelf were pointing at four. Elsa did not have 
many chances to be with other children, and she 
did not like to have the time go so fast now. 

“ No, let’s stick to the club,” insisted Betty, re- 
seating herself on the bed. 

Just then Betty’s mother came to the nursery door 
with a rosy-cheeked baby in her arms who looked 
like a smaller Betty. The white-capped nurse fol- 
lowed close behind. 

“ I am sorry to disturb you, children,” said Mrs. 
White, after a pleasant word of greeting, “ but 
Nurse has just brought baby in from out-of-doors, 
and she wants to put him in the nursery, as he is 
fretful, and watching the birds always quiets him. 
Take your friends down to the living-room, Betty.” 

“ But, mother, we are just starting — ” began 
Betty. 

“ Betty dear, remember not to argue when I ask 
you to do anything,” murmured Mrs. White into 
her little daughter’s ear, stooping to kiss her fore- 
head. 

Elsa and Alice were already at the nursery door. 


WORK AND PLAY 


9 


looking with adoring eyes at the baby, who was 
stretching out his chubby hands toward the birds. 

“ We can stay in the living-room just as well, 
mother dear,” said Betty, patting her baby brother’s 
cheek affectionately and then quickly leading the 
way down-stairs. 

The living-room had a low ceiling and diamond- 
paned windows. The large centre-table was covered 
with books, the chairs were deep and comfortable, 
and on the wide couch opposite the fireplace lay two 
great, sleek gray cats curled up, fast asleep. 

“ What are your cats’ names? ” asked Alice, who, 
not being a near neighbour, did not know so much 
of Betty’s home and pets as did Elsa. 

“ Romulus and Remus,” said Betty. “ But we 
must talk about the club.” 

“ I don’t believe we are going to have any club,” 
said Elsa, beginning to stroke the cats, who 1 purred 
in lazy content, without opening their eyes. 

“ Then it is your own fault,” exclaimed Betty, 
with a flash of temper. 

“ Why? ” Elsa left off petting the cats and sat 
up very straight on the sofa. 

“ Because you give up so soon,,” replied Betty. 

Elsa suddenly bent low over the cats until her 
golden hair hid her face, but she made no answer. 


10 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ I wish we had some one older to manage for 
us,” sighed Alice, turning over the pages of a pic- 
ture-book on the table. 

“ I tell you what we can do,” cried Betty, jump- 
ing up from the black bearskin, hearth-rug where she 
had settled herself momentarily. “ We can ask Miss 
Ruth Warren to be in the club! ” 

“ But will she want to be in a club with little 
girls ? ” asked Alice anxiously. 

“ I think she will,” returned Betty. 

“ Perhaps she. will be president,” suggested Alice, 
who was a born peacemaker. 

“ Maybe she will name the club for us,” put in 
Elsa, raising her head. The flash of sensitiveness 
had died out of her violet-gray eyes. 

“ Come on, then ! Let’s ask her now,” said 
Betty; and in another moment the three girls had 
slipped on their coats and were running toward the 
Warrens’ house. 

The Warren family was a small one now; only 
Miss Ruth and a maiden aunt lived in the old home- 
stead. There had always been some one for Ruth 
Warren to devote herself to, — first her mother, 
then her grandmother, next her father; and now 
the last of her older relatives, this aunt who thought 
herself so much of an invalid that she seldom came 


WORK AND PLAY 


11 


down-stairs. Ruth’s brothers and sisters had mar- 
ried and left the old home ; but although Ruth had 
chosen to remain unmarried, she had a busy life and 
a happy one, with her home cares and housekeeping, 
and a large number of nephews and nieces to love. 
There was a touch of sunshine about her that made 
other people the happier for knowing her. She was 
pleasant, too, to look upon, for she had beautiful 
brown eyes and warm-toned yellow hair. She was 
girlish-looking, in spite of her thirty years, and she 
always wore soft, graceful, unrustling gowns. 

She had just come, this afternoon, from a lunch- 
eon-party, and, finding that her aunt had a caller, 
she seated herself before the open fire in the library, 
trying to decide whether or not she would go to 
Mrs. Wharton’s tea, at five o’clock. “ I wish there 
were something more interesting to do,” she said to 
herself ; “ luncheons and afternoon teas are all 

about alike.” 

Old Sarah, the family servant, appeared at the 
library doorway just then. “ Well, Sarah?” said 
Miss Ruth, looking up at the tall, thin, spectacled 
woman, whose corkscrew-like curls were bobbing 
with her displeasure. 

“ Three little girls to see you,” said Sarah, her 
lips screwing themselves tight together as if in ob- 


12 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


jection to three little girls coming into the house. 
“ And here they are, chasing right after me/’ she 
snapped out, moving to one side. 

Betty, who felt quite at home here, had urged the 
other children into following Sarah to the library. 

Miss Ruth rose quickly and went forward to meet 
them : “ Come in, girls,” she said, in a friendly 
voice. “ I am glad to see you.” 

“You know Elsa Danforth?” said Betty, in a 
suddenly shy manner. 

“ Yes, indeed ; Elsa is my neighbour, though she 
has never been in my house before,” replied Miss 
Ruth, taking Elsa’s hand into her cordial grasp. 

“ And this is our little friend, Alice Holt,” said 
Betty, drawing blue-eyed Alice forward. 

“ Are you going somewhere ? ” asked Betty, al- 
most before Miss Ruth had time to greet Alice. 
“ You look all dressed up.” 

“ No,” said Miss Ruth, deciding instantly that 
she would not go to Mrs. Wharton’s tea. “ I have 
just come from somewhere. Take off your coats 
and sit down, girls.” 

“We want you to be in our club,” began Betty. 

“ What kind of a club is it?” 

“ It is a Christmas Club, for play,” said Betty. 

“ And work, too,” put in Elsa, shyly, thinking 


WORK AND PLAY 


13 


that their play alone might not interest grown-up 
Miss Ruth. 

“ Making Christmas presents especially,” said 
Betty, feeling hopeful. 

“ For whom?” asked Miss Ruth. She had a 
way of making people feel comfortable, and she met 
the children’s request so naturally that they were 
speedily losing their shyness, 

“ For our friends,” said Betty. 

“ We might make things for the children at the 
Convalescent Home,” suggested Alice, drawing her 
chair a little nearer. 

“ What is that? ” asked Elsa. 

“ O, it’s a big, big brick house about a mile from 
where I live,” explained Alice eagerly; “ and chil- 
dren are brought there from the city hospital — 
children who are getting cured, and they stay there 
sometimes a long, long while for the country air 
and the sunshine make them well again. Some of 
them are on crutches and have bandages all over 
them and some are fastened to boards.” Alice had 
talked very fast, and she stopped now, quite out of 
breath. 

“ I shouldn’t like to see them,” said Betty, shrug- 
ging her shoulders. 

“ But they are all getting well, even though they 


14 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


do have crutches and boards and bandages,” con- 
tinued Alice, her blue eyes shining with interest. 
“ Mother takes us children over there once in a 
while; she says it is good for us, because it makes 
us more tender-hearted.” 

“ I don’t believe my grandmother would let me 
go,” said Elsa, who had been leaning forward, lis- 
tening intently, with her chin in the palm of her 
slim little hand. “ Grandmother is particular about 
the children I associate with, and I suppose these 
are all poor children. I should just love to go, 
though,” she added, with a long sigh. 

“ Wouldn’t it be a good plan for our club to 
make things to give those little children ? ” asked 
Betty, growing more interested the more she 
thought about the children. 

“The very thing!” said Miss Ruth. “Miss 
Hartwell, who is at the head of the Convalescent 
Home, told me only yesterday that about fifty chil- 
dren are there now. Of course the playthings wear 
out, and when the children go back to their homes, 
cured, they want to take with them the toys they 
have grown fond of. But what have you named 
your club?” asked Miss Ruth, turning to Betty. 

“ That’s what we can’t decide about,” said Betty. 
“We want you to name it and be president.” 


WORK AND PLAY 


15 


“ But this is such a great honour ! ” exclaimed 
Miss Ruth. Her brown eyes had a way of laugh- 
ing, even when her face was sober. 

“ Now, Miss Ruth, — don’t laugh at us, please,” 
begged Betty, slipping her arm around Miss Ruth’s 
neck. 

“ Why not name it the Christmas Makers’ Club,” 
suggested Miss Ruth, with serious eyes now, “ — 
especially if you decide to make things for the con- 
valescent children ? ” 

“ That’s the very best name we could have ! ” 
cried Betty, jumping up and clapping her hands. 

“ Splendid ! ” exclaimed Alice, two dimples show- 
ing in her soft pink cheeks. 

“ It sounds like all sorts of interesting things,” 
said Elsa, coming to Miss Ruth’s side and timidly 
stroking her sleeve. 

“ We must keep it a secret, though. We mustn’t 
tell the name to anybody,” said Betty, perching her- 
self on the arm of Miss Ruth’s chair, at the other 
side. “ People will have to know there is a club, 
but they mustn’t know anything more than that.” 

“ How will you keep your work a secret ? ” asked 
Miss Ruth. 

“ If you are our president, you might keep the 
presents we make,” said Elsa. 


16 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Please, O, please ! ” begged Betty and Alice in 
a chorus. “ Please be president ! ” 

Miss Ruth looked from one to another of the 
bright, excited faces, for a moment. “ I will gladly 
be your president, and keep your work, — and do 
anything else you want me to,” she said, finally. 

Elsa’s face flushed rosy with pleasure, and she 
gave little Alice a good hug. Betty dropped a warm 
kiss on Miss Ruth’s hair and said : “ Then come 
back with us now to my house, because I invited 
the Club to meet there first.” 

Ruth Warren was as good as her word : “ I will 
go where the Club wants me to go,” she said, rising. 
“ First of all, though, let me give you some plum 
buns which Sarah made this morning.” 

“ I know old Sarah’s plum buns ; they are as 
good as she is cross,” said Betty, as Miss Ruth left 
the room. 

“ That’s not very polite, Betty,” said Alice. 

“ I don’t care. I am not very polite, anyway,” 
replied Betty quickly. “ I tell the truth, though.” 

“ That sounds as if you thought other girls didn’t 
tell the truth ! ” exclaimed Elsa. 

“ It is pretty hard to, always,” said Alice slowly. 
“ I try to, but sometimes the fib slips out first, and 
then it’s all the harder to get the truth out.” 


WORK AND PLAY 


17 


“ Mother always catches me if I don’t tell things 
straight,” confessed Betty. 

“ Papa used to tell me that the only thing he 
wanted me to be afraid of was of not telling the 
truth,” Elsa said, her face growing suddenly sad. 
Her father had died less than a year ago. 

At that moment Miss Ruth came into the room 
with a large plateful of buns, — crisp and tempting 
and full of raisins, — and soon all three girls were 
eating with a relish, as children eat, just after 
school. 

“ Come ! ” said Betty, taking up her coat. “ We 
ought to start.” 

Alice and Elsa obligingly put on their coats, but 
Ruth Warren saw that they hesitated, and Betty as 
much as the others : there was yet a goodly pile of 
buns left. 

“ Fill your pockets, girls,” she said. “ Sarah will 
be disappointed if you don’t eat all the buns.” So 
the three girls filled their pockets, and Alice said 
shyly: “ I will take one to Ben if you don’t mind. 
O, thank you ! ” 

“Who is Ben?” inquired Ruth Warren, as with 
a dark red golf cape over her black lace gown, she 
started forth with the girls for Betty’s home, — 


18 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Betty hanging upon one arm, while Elsa and Alice 
walked on the other side. 

“ Ben is my twin brother,” Alice replied. “ He’s 
’most always hungry; mother says boys always 
are.” 

“ Three plum buns! ” exclaimed Betty. Then she 
repeated in a comical, sing-song voice: 

“ Three plum buns ! 

One for you and one for me, 

And one left over: 

Give it to the boy who shouts 

To scare sheep from the clover.” 

“ But Ben doesn’t scare sheep from the clover, 
— because we haven’t any sheep,” said Alice, very 
earnestly. “ All we have is hens.” 

“ O, Alice,” cried Betty, “ that is only poetry.” 

“ You do have hens then, Alice?” asked Miss 
Ruth quickly, seeing the child’s face redden. 

“ Yes, and Ben takes care of them, and he sells 
the eggs,” answered Alice proudly. 

“ They have the loveliest place,” said Betty, “ a 
little hens’ house, and they raise lettuce and radishes 
and all sorts of good things to eat.” 

“You see,” cried Alice, feeling that some ex- 
planation was necessary, and running a little ahead 
in her eagerness : “ father isn’t very well, and he 


WORK AND PLAY 


19 


is a teacher, and he had to go out West for his 
health, and we can’t afford to go, too>, and we all 
try to help earn money to help, because he doesn’t 
have much money. Besides Ben’s chickens, mother 
has a market-garden, and a hired man to help ; and 
I help, too. Perhaps the Club will meet out at my 
house, sometimes.” 

“ We will surely have at least one meeting there,” 
said Miss Ruth, while Elsa’s eyes danced with pleas- 
ant anticipations. 

Betty hurried ahead, ran up the steps of her home 
and threw open the door, her heart swelling with 
hospitality. “ O mother! ” she exclaimed, for Mrs. 
White was just passing through the hall; “ Miss 
Ruth is going to belong to our Club ! ” 

“ This is good of you, Ruth,” said Mrs. White, 
greeting her neighbour cordially. “ But you must 
not let the children trespass upon your time.” 

Betty looked up in dismay : had they been asking 
too much of Miss Ruth ? 

“ It will be such a new and refreshing kind of 
Club that I shall enjoy it,” said Ruth Warren reas- 
suringly. 

“ It is good for us to dare to be children with 
children,” said Mrs. White, stroking Elsa’s soft 
hair and looking into the appealing violet-gray eyes 


20 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


that always brought a thrill of sympathy into her 
heart for the motherless child. 

Elsa, meeting the kind glance, said very ear- 
nestly : “We are going to call the Club — ” 

“ O, Elsa, you mustn’t tell ! You will spoil it all,” 
cried Betty impatiently. 

“ Forgive my little Betty for her interruption, 
Elsa,” said Mrs. White, seeing the colour rush into 
Elsa’s face. “ Fault-finding is an easy trade, Betty. 
But I suppose you children will all enjoy your Club 
more if you keep the name and what you do as a 
secret.” 

Elsa looked up into Mrs. White’s kindly face and 
wondered if Betty realized how fortunate she was 
in having such a mother, who understood so well 
what little girls wanted. 

“We are going to make — ” began Betty. 

“ There, Betty, who is telling now ! ” said Mrs. 
White laughingly. “ I am afraid I shall be learning 
your secrets if I stay any longer,” she added, turn- 
ing away. “ Be sure you don’t let the children 
bother you, Ruth.” 

“ No danger of that,” was the quick reply. And 
already, indeed, Ruth Warren’s face looked younger 
and happier. “ Now, children, we must make our 
plans,” she continued, when they were all in the 


WORK AND PLAY 


21 


living-room. “ It seems to me the meetings would 
better be at my house. You can come there on your 
way from school, and I will have everything ready, 
— our work and something to eat.” 

“ That will be better than meeting here,” said 
Betty instantly, “ because the other children — Max 
and Janet — come home from the high school early 
and they might be around sometimes, and sometimes 
we should have to keep very quiet on account of the 
baby.” 

“ It would be a little nearer our house, too,” said 
Elsa, “ and grandmother could see Miss Ruth’s 
house from the window, and maybe I could stay 
later than five o’clock sometimes.” 

“ And how would you like it, Alice? ” asked Ruth 
Warren, turning to the fair-haired child who was 
usually the last speaker. 

“ O, I’d like ever and ever so much to have the 
Club meet at your house,” said Alice eagerly. 
“ Ben can call for me to go home.” 

“ Then we have our name settled, and the place 
where we shall meet,” said Miss Ruth. “ Next we 
must decide what to give the Convalescent Home 
children for Christmas.” 

“ Dolls ! ” cried Betty, from a big, square cushion 
on the floor. 


22 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Dolls ! ” echoed Elsa, curled up on the wide sofa 
beside the two sleepy gray cats. 

“ Dolls, — different kinds, paper dolls and some 
rag dolls,” said Alice, her shabby little shoes stick- 
ing out straight ahead from the depths of the chair 
she had chosen. 

“ Rag dolls ! ” Betty tossed her head scornfully. 

“ Yes, — rag dolls, please,” urged Elsa. 

“ Some rag dolls, surely,” said Miss Ruth ; “ one 
of my dearest dolls was a black Dinah with a red 
dress and yellow ribbons on her woolly hair, — a 
homely-dear doll my grandmother made for me.” 

“ Did your grandmother make dolls for you ? ” 
asked Elsa in a low voice. 

“ Yes — but that was probably because somebody 
had made dolls for her when she was a little girl,” 
explained Miss Ruth. 

“ Dolls, then, it’s going to be,” said Betty. “ We 
will all buy some dolls, and make dresses for them 
ourselves, at the Club meetings.” 

Ruth Warren glanced at the children quickly. 
Elsa was daintily dressed in a soft, black gown with 
a fine-embroidered white guimpe; Betty had on a 
pretty blue-and-green Scotch plaid dress, with a 
simple muslin guimpe : the Danforths and the 
Whites were well-to^do people. But what about the 


WORK AND PLAY 


23 


Holts? The hem of Alice's sailor-suit had been 
twice let down, — the careful pressing of the creases 
could not conceal the fact ; her stocking-knees were 
closely darned, her shoes were shabby ; and her story 
of how all the family worked to help earn money 
was undoubtedly true. If Betty and Elsa bought 
dolls, Alice might not be able to> buy so many as 
they. So' Miss Ruth said at once : “ I will provide 
the dolls, and you may dress them. Each of you 
bring some pieces of pretty ginghams and wash- 
goods to me before next Friday, and I will have the 
dresses cut out and ready for you to begin on when 
you come to the Club meeting. Do you think you 
can make dresses for as many as two dozen dolls in 
all, — twenty- four dolls that will be, and eight 
apiece for you ? ” 

“ O, yes, yes ! ” came the chorus of answers. 

“ Then, sometime when the Club is sewing and 
we are tired of talking, I will tell you a story about 
a little old lady’s doll,” said Miss Ruth. 

“ O, tell it now ! ” urged Betty. 

“ Please ! ” “ Please ! ” begged Elsa and Alice. 

“ The next time, perhaps,” said Miss Ruth, glan- 
cing up at the clock, whose hour-hand was fast ap- 
proaching five, and shaking her head at Betty’s 
added “ Please ! ” 


24 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Don’t you think we ought to have a few boy 
dolls?” asked Alice. “ Some of the convalescent 
children are boys, and Ben likes my boy dolls best.” 

“ Does Ben play with dolls? ” asked Betty scorn- 
fully, rattling the tongs by the fireside. 

“ He used to when he was littler,” said Alice, 
“ and he does sometimes now, when he has the sore 
throat and has to stay in the house. He doesn’t 
mind other boys knowing it, either,” she said, sit- 
ting up very straight in the deep chair, her blue eyes 
beaming with pride ; “ one of the boys teased him 
about it, and Ben ducked him into the frog-pond. 
Ben is different from other boys,” Alice explained, 
turning to Miss Ruth. “ I think he would like to 
come to the Club sometimes.” 

“ We don’t want boys in our Club,” objected 
Betty, rising and walking around the room. 

“ But Ben isn’t like other boys,” said Elsa from 
her comer with the cats. 

“ Ben could often help us,” said Miss Ruth en- 
couragingly ; “ there will be ever so much that a 
boy can do, especially toward Christmas-time.” 

“ Ben can sew, too,” said loyal Alice. She loved 
her twin brother heartily and wanted to have him 
in all her good times. 


WORK AND PLAY 


25 


“ Here comes Ben, now,” exclaimed Betty, catch- 
ing sight of him from the window. 

“ He said he would call for me about five o , clock, ,, 
cried Alice, running with Betty to the front door. 

Back they came in a moment, followed by a rosy- 
cheeked boy, taller than Alice but looking very much 
like her except that his big blue eyes sparkled with 
fun, while hers were dreamy and rather serious. 
Ben had on a short reefer jacket and knee trousers. 
In his red-mittened hands he held the round cap 
which he had pulled off from his close-cropped yel- 
low hair. 

“ This is my twin brother/’ said Alice, leading 
him forward to Miss Ruth. 

“ My name is Benjamin Franklin Holt,” said the 
boy, hastily pulling off his right-hand red mitten. 
His cheeks grew rosier than ever, as he bowed and 
shook hands with Miss Ruth, but he kept his eyes on 
her face in a manly fashion. 

Ruth Warren liked the little fellow from that 
moment for his straightforward look. “ We are 
glad to see you, Ben,” she said, “ and we were just 
talking about your coming to the Club sometimes.” 

“ Are you going to have a Club ? I might come 
when there isn’t anything else to do,” said Ben 
cheerfully. 


26 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Ben ! ” exclaimed his sister. 

“ All right, Peggy. Yes, ma’am, thank you, I’d 
like to come sometimes.” Ben edged over to the 
sofa. The two gray cats jumped down when he 
began stroking them, and rubbed against his legs. 

“ Ben loves animals,” said Alice, with shining 
eyes. 

“ Alice told us you like to play dolls,” said Betty 
teasingly. 

“ I do, sometimes, when there isn’t anything bet- 
ter to do,” said Ben. He gave a funny side-glance 
at Miss Ruth out of his twinkling eyes as he added, 
straightening up his fine, sturdy little figure : “ I 
ducked a boy in the frog-pond once for trying to 
tease me about dolls.” 

Ruth Warren’s eyes laughed back into Ben’s, but 
she said very seriously : “I am sure you would not 
treat any of your sister’s friends in ungallant fash- 
ion.” 

“ That’s the trouble about girls,” replied Ben con- 
fidentially ; “ a boy can’t ever play fair with them, 
because they are girls.” One of the things which 
always delighted people with Ben was his extremely 
friendly and wise manner. 

“ You have not asked the name of our Club, 
Ben,” suggested Miss Ruth'. 


WORK AND PLAY 


27 


“ Don’t tell him, please, until he really joins,” 
urged Betty. 

“ That will be time enough,” said Ben, carelessly 
but sweet-temperedly. 

“I must go this minute!” cried Elsa, jumping 
up from the sofa and hurriedly putting on her coat, 
as the clock struck five. “ Good-bye ! good-bye ! 
I’ve had a beautiful time. Thank you, Miss Ruth! ” 
she called back as she darted out of the house. 

Betty White’s musical voice — which seemed to 
belong with the shining brown hair and the fearless 
eyes — followed Miss Ruth and the Holt twins as 
they made their way down the front steps a few 
moments later : “ We will run straight home from 
school to your house, Miss Ruth, for the Club meet- 
ing next Friday afternoon; and don’t forget the 
story.” 

Alice and Ben walked the short distance home- 
ward with Miss Ruth. Happy Alice chattered away 
about the Club : “ I am so glad it is really started,” 
she said gleefully, as they stopped at the foot of the 
Warrens’ door-steps. 

Ben whipped off his cap and stood bareheaded, 
looking up into Ruth Warren’s face. Something 
friendly in her eyes made him say : “ You look as 
if you liked boys, Black Lace Lady.” 


28 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ I do like boys, Ben,” said Miss Ruth ; and from 
that moment she and Ben were friends. 

Ben, while she spoke, had been pulling Alice by 
the hand. “ Come on, Peggy,” he cried now. 

But Alice hung back long enough to call out: 
“ Ben always has names for people. Good-bye ! ” 
Then the twins ran off together, hand in hand. 

At half -past five Elsa Danforth sat at a side-table 
in the dining-room bay window eating her bread 
and milk supper out of a gold-lined silver porringer. 
The soft light from the great, glowing chandelier in 
the dining-room fell upon the beautiful flowering 
plants and upon the little black-gowned figure sit- 
ting there among them, all alone. Elsa had begged 
the maid to leave the shades up, — it grew dark 
early these short November days, — and she glanced 
out every now and then through the twilight at the 
Warren house with happy thoughts in her heart. 
She almost felt as if she had company, for the 
house was so near and Miss Ruth had been so kind 
that afternoon. 

Mrs. Danforth, the tall, stately lady whom Elsa 
called “ grandmother ” — never “ grandmamma ” 
— dined at half-past six, for, notwithstanding the 
solitude of her life since her husband, Judge Dan- 
forth, had died and she had come to live in this 


WORK AND PLAY 


29 


suburban town of Berkeley, she chose to keep up the 
formal New York way of living. She had late 
breakfasts always, so that when Elsa was attending 
school, the only times the two saw one another for 
more than a few moments were at luncheon, in the 
evening after Mrs. Danforth’s dinner was over and 
before Elsa’s bedtime, and on Sunday. 

Elsa often felt very lonely, especially eating by 
herself. But she never complained; she never 
thought herself very large or important, and she 
was quite used to obeying her grandmother. Uncle 
Ned had said for her to do exactly as her grand- 
mother wanted her to do; and if Uncle Ned had 
said this, it must be all right. 

“ Who are the children in your Club, Elsa, beside 
Elizabeth White?” asked Mrs. Danforth that eve- 
ning. She and Elsa were sitting in the luxurious 
library. The chairs were upholstered in dark green 
velvet, the books on the tables and in the bookcases 
had rich bindings. Out of the library opened a long 
drawing-room furnished in cream colour and gold, 
and having beautiful inlaid cabinets full of treas- 
ures. 

Mrs. Danforth was a handsome woman, very 
erect, with a broad white forehead, gray hair, heavy 
dark eyebrows, and keen blue eyes. She was dressed 


30 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


in a corded black silk, richly trimmed with lace and 
jet. 

Elsa looked up from her book and answered: 
“ The other member of the Club is Alice, and 
maybe her brother Ben is coming sometimes, 
grandmother.” 

“ What is their last name?” asked the grand' 
mother quickly. 

“ Alice and Ben Bolt,” said Elsa. 

“ Nonsense, child,” replied Mrs. Danforth : she 
had a discouraging way of saying “ Nonsense ! ” 
that made Elsa feel like a very small and silly child ; 
“ those are names from an old nursery ballad.” 

“ I am sure their names are Alice and Ben, any- 
way, grandmother,” said Elsa, pushing back the 
silky hair which had dropped forward, and looking 
steadily at her grandmother out of great, wide-open 
eyes. 

“ Probably those are not their real names,” re- 
plied Mrs. Danforth. She seemed rather troubled 
about something, Elsa thought. And then the child 
tried to remember if she had done anything her 
grandmother did not like. 

Later, just before Elsa’s bedtime, Mrs. Danforth 
asked again : “ What is the last name of the chil- 
dren you call Alice and Ben ? ” 


WORK AND PLAY 


31 


“ Bolt, or Holt, or Colt may be ; I can't remem- 
ber," answered Elsa, looking up from the pages of 
the “ Swiss Family Robinson ” and hoping her 
grandmother would not notice that the mantel clock 
was striking eight. 

“ Where do they live ? " 

“ O, a mile away," said Elsa. “ And they have 
hens and a garden, and they raise radishes for the 
city market." 

“ Are you sure they are proper children for you 
to associate with ? " 

“ O, yes, grandmother," said Elsa warmly. 
“ Alice, especially, has beautiful manners ; Betty 
says her mother especially likes to have her play with 
Alice." 

“ I must speak to Mrs, White about it, to make 
sure," said Mrs. Danforth, and Elsa's face coloured 
sensitively, for she felt that her grandmother 
thought she was not telling the truth. 

“ Bedtime now, Elsa," said Mrs. Danforth, the 
next moment. “ Put away your book. And try to 
remember people's names. It is something a lady 
always does." 

“ Yes, grandmother," said Elsa dutifully. 

Almost any one, looking on, would have been 
surprised to see Elsa walk up to her grandmother 


32 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


and, instead of kissing her good night, put out her 
hand; and then to see Mrs. Danforth touch the 
slender, childlike hand for only a brief second with 
the tips of her jewelled fingers. But Elsa under- 
stood; long ago her grandmother had explained 
that she thought kissing was an unnecessary and 
foolish custom. 

“ Good night, Elsa.. Remember to say your pray- 
ers.” 

“ Yes, grandmother. Good night.” 

Elsa went slowly out of the room and up the pol- 
ished stairs to her own room, which always seemed 
empty to her, with its white-papered walls, white 
bed, white furniture, curtains, even white frames 
on the pictures of Greek statuary and ruined tem- 
ples. 

Mrs. Danforth never thought of tucking Elsa into 
bed ; and the child, as she hung her black dress over 
the chair to-night, shed a few tears — as she often 
did — over having to go to bed all alone in that 
white, white room where her little black dresses 
looked so black. 

It seemed to Elsa that she had been wearing black 
dresses all her life. Three years ago her mother 
had died, then a year later her grandfather, Judge 
Danforth, died, and within the last twelve months. 


WORK AND PLAY 


33 


her father. Since her father’s death, her own pretty 
home had been broken up, her old nurse dismissed, 
and she had lived with her grandmother, at first in 
the great New York house, and now for three 
months amid new surroundings in Berkeley. 

No wonder that the grief and the many changes 
and now the sober, quiet life with her grandmother 
in a new place, had made Elsa a sad-eyed, white- 
faced child. The late summer, after their coming 
to Berkeley, had been particularly lonely, for there 
had been nobody to play with. Since October, how- 
ever, when the Whites had come back from their 
summer home, Elsa had been happier. Betty as near 
neighbour, had become Elsa’s special friend, and 
now she and Alice had also made friends. 

When Elsa was ready for bed, in her long white 
nightgown, she turned off the electric light, put up 
the window-shades, and looked out toward the War- 
ren house. “ I wonder which is Miss Ruth’s room,” 
she whispered to herself. “ Wish I dared to ask 
her, because if it’s on this side, I could look over 
sometimes, and feel as if I had company.” 

With a little sigh, Elsa knelt down by her white 
bed and mumbled her prayer. Then, jumping up 
from her knees, she listened at the door. Not a 
sound from Cummings, her grandmother’s maid, 


34 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


who had the room next to Elsa’s, and who usually 
stayed down in the servants’ dining-room until nine 
o’clock. Everything was quiet. So Elsa went 
quickly over to the white bureau and pulling open 
the lower drawer, took from under a pile of play- 
things a rather small china doll in a faded pink 
dress, the red of whose cheeks had been almost en- 
tirely kissed off. With this doll hugged close in her 
arms, Elsa crept into bed. 

On the white-cushioned couch between the win- 
dows sat a dignified row of dolls, seven in all, and 
all in good clothes. But better than any of these, 
Elsa loved her little old china doll which her own 
dear nurse had given her at parting and which Elsa 
had named for her nurse, Bettina. For some reason 
which Elsa did not try to explain to herself, she 
kept Bettina from the sight of her grandmother 
and especially from Cummings, the middle-aged 
woman who attended to Mrs. Danforth’s wardrobe 
and in what time there was left, made dresses for 
Elsa. Every morning when Elsa woke, the first 
thing she did, after pressing many loving kisses 
upon Bettina’s worn face, was to put her away 
under the pile of playthings in the lower drawer of 
the bureau. 

Thinking about the Club made Elsa feel very 


WORK AND PLAY 


35 


wide awake. She began picturing to herself Betty 
White’s nursery-room with the bright scarlet gera- 
niums, the strawberry-birds, and the pretty chintz 
cushions ; and she hugged her doll the closer to take 
away the feeling of loneliness in her own dreary 
white room. 

“ Now, listen, Bettina, and try to learn our 
verses ; and perhaps we can go to sleep,” said Elsa, 
beginning to whisper softly the cradle-song her 
father had taught her, not long before he died. Re- 
peating these three verses every night meant more 
to Elsa than the prayer which she hurried through 
on her knees. And Bettina listened attentively, as 
dolls listen, while a voice said close to her ears : 


“Dear Heart, Sweet Heart, 

Time that little children 

Creep into their mothers’ arms, to wait Sleep’s silent call; 
Sweet Heart, Dear Heart, 

All the little children 

Must the Moon find sleeping when she mounts Heaven’s wall! 


“Sweet Heart, Dear Heart, 

Over little children, 

As they dream their white, white dreams, the wings of Love are 
pressed ; 

Dear Heart, Sweet Heart, 

They were little children 
Whom the blessed Child of Bethlehem loved best ! 


36 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“Dear Heart, Sweet Heart, 

All the little children 

Come from Love, and go to Love, when life’s long day is done; 
Sweet Heart, Dear Heart, 

All are little children, 

Hushed at last, on Nature’s bosom, one by one!” 


And, as usually happened, when Elsa had said the 
last words, she fell fast asleep. 

Down-stairs, Mrs. Danforth, putting aside her 
book, sat a long time deep in thought, her eyes 
shaded from the light. “ Ben and Alice ; Alice and 
Ben ! ” she kept repeating to herself. “ Strange, — 
and the name, too, Holt, or Bolt ; — yet it may be 
only that foolish old song. I must find out about it 
all.” 

Finally, being a woman of strong will, she put 
the matter out of her mind, leaned back into the 
luxurious chair and went on reading her novel; 
while up-stairs, Elsa, the child who bore no shadow 
of resemblance to her in looks or ways, fell asleep 
with wet eyelashes. 

Mrs. Danforth had every intention of being kind 
to Elsa. She provided suitable and pretty frocks 
and the daintiest of underwear for the child; she 
paid careful attention to Elsa’s education, her man- 
ners and her companions. The one thing she failed 


WORK AND PLAY 


37 


to give the child was the unbounded love which little 
fatherless and motherless Elsa needed more than 
anything else in the world. 

In many ways Mrs. Danforth was proud of Elsa, 
— proud of her straight, naturally graceful figure, 
her spirited bearing, her wonderfully beautiful hair 
and eyes. Mrs. Danforth was a proud woman, and 
she enjoyed the thought that the little girl whom 
she called grandchild was well worthy of the name. 
She had never really cared for any child except her 
own daughter ; but that was a sad story of long ago. 

There was a definite reason why Mrs. Danforth 
did not give more affection to Elsa, just as there 
was a definite purpose back of her coming to live 
in Berkeley. This purpose, however, Mrs. Danforth 
was slow in carrying out, being a proud-spirited 
woman. To her many New York friends she ex- 
plained her removal to Berkeley upon the ground 
that the quiet, suburban town, with its cultured 
people and its good schools, was a better place than 
New York City for Elsa to live in during the years 
of her young girlhood. 


CHAPTER II 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 

Forth he set in the breezy morn. 

Across green fields of nodding corn. 

As goodly a Prince as ever was born. 

— Christina Rossetti. 

Where every wind and leaf can talk, 

But no man understand 
Save one whose child-feet chanced to walk 
Green paths of fairyland. 

— Sophie Jewett. 

HE children are late,” said Miss Ruth 
to Sarah who, soon after three o’clock 
the next Friday afternoon, came into 
the library with a large plate piled 
high with ginger cookies cut into shapes of ani- 
mals, — horses, cats, dogs, giraffes, and elephants. 

“ Like as not they have given up wantin’ to have 
a club,” snapped Sarah, shutting her mouth as if 
she had bitten off the words. “ Children nowadays 
are spoilt with havin’ such a lot done for ’em.” 
Sarah looked disappointed, however; she had spent 
a long time in making those cookies. 

38 



PRINCE GRAY OWL 


39 


Sarah Judd was the only servant in the Warren 
household, and she had lived in the family a long 
time. Whenever Ruth Warren said anything to her 
about having a younger woman to help, Sarah al- 
ways shook her head until the corkscrew side-curls 
fairly bobbed up and down and answered : “ No, 
madam : if you have anybody else come to work 
for you, I go ! ” As old Sarah understood perfectly 
the ways and wishes of Miss Virginia Warren, 
Ruth’s aunt, Ruth kept the cross-spoken servant, 
who was in reality a kind-hearted woman. 

Ruth Warren had learned the wisdom of silence 
when Sarah made scolding remarks; so now she 
kept on cutting out dresses for the rows and rows 
of dolls, — big and little dolls, blond-haired and 
black-haired, waxen-headed and china-headed, blue- 
eyed, gray-eyed, black-eyed, — two of each kind 
and twenty- four in all, lying there on the centre- 
table. 

Sarah lingered in the room, brushing a little dust 
from the table with the corner of her white apron. 
“ What a handsome lot of doll-babies,” she said 
after a moment; “ I hope the children will come. I 
thought at first that havin’ ’em come would make 
an awful sight of dust an’ crumbs ; but I can sweep 
Saturday mornin’s instead of Fridays, an’ it’s kinder 


40 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


nice to hear children ’round, a-talkin’ an’ a-laughin’, 
as fast as a sewin’-machine. Bless my heart, here 
they come now, a-hurryin’ along! ” Sarah dodged 
behind the curtain and looked out over the tops of 
her spectacles. “ Ain’t they cunnin’ little things ! ” 
she exclaimed, “ cornin’ along with their arms 
twined ’round one another, an’ that lively Betty 
White in the middle ! ” 

As Sarah turned from behind the window-curtain 
to answer the quick ring of the front-door bell, she 
said anxiously: “If they eat all the animals in the 
plate, I have got some more plain cookies they can 
have.” 

A moment later Sarah led the three girls into the 
library, her side-curls bobbing with excitement. 

“ O, look at those cookies ! ” cried Betty, after she 
had greeted Miss Ruth. “ Good old Sarah must 
have made them.” And Sarah vanished from the 
doorway with a smile which made her thin, dry 
face seem suddenly to' have cracked. 

“ I’m dreadfully sorry we are late, Miss Ruth,” 
Betty cried out, excitedly — Betty was almost al- 
ways the first to begin talking. “ It is all my fault 
— I had to stay after school, and Elsa and Alice 
waited for me.” Betty stopped for breath, fanning 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


41 


herself with the skirt of her blue and green plaid 
gown. 

“ We wanted to wait,” said Alice with a shy, half- 
look at Miss Ruth, then turning quickly to examine 
the piles of dolls again, with Elsa. 

“ I got zero in arithmetic,” Betty rattled on 
again, “ and I didn’t read well, and I got caught 
whispering, so I had to eat three little bitter blos- 
soms and stay fifteen minutes after school. I wish 
there wasn’t any school,” she added, with a toss of 
her brown hair. 

“ So do I,” agreed Elsa, promptly, but Alice 
looked a little shocked. 

“ Help yourselves to the cookies, girls ; Sarah 
made them especially for you,” said Miss Ruth, see- 
ing Betty’s and Elsa’s eyes fixed upon the ginger- 
bread animals. 

“ I shouldn’t care if I didn’t know anything, if 
I could have people read to me and tell me stories,” 
said Betty, biting off the trunk of an elephant 
cookie. 

“ O, Miss Ruth, you said you would tell us a 
story ! ” exclaimed Elsa, eagerly. 

“ Yes, — a story about a doll and an old lady,” 
cried Betty, forgetting her school troubles. 


42 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

“ Wasn’t it strange for an old lady to have a 
doll ? ” said Alice, her blue eyes very serious. 

“ Strange perhaps, but true,” replied Miss Ruth, 
who had taken the tongs and was stirring the fire 
into a splendid blaze. “ Which would you rather 
have, — that story, or one about a ‘ Prince Gray 
Owl?”’ 

“ Both,” answered Betty, “ but the gray owl story 
first.” 

“ The doll story first, please,” begged Elsa. The 
fire lighted up the golden-brown of Miss Ruth’s 
gown, and its brown fur trimming; Elsa decided 
that the fur just matched the colour of Miss Ruth’s 
eyes. 

“ I should like either story first, — * only both 
please,” said Alice slowly, between bites at a long- 
necked giraffe. 

“ Which one can you tell easiest, Miss Ruth ? ” 
Elsa suddenly remembered to ask. 

“ I could tell the fairy story more easily to-day, 
perhaps, because I told it only yesterday to my little 
niece who was visiting me. The old lady’s doll 
story actually happened, so that I remember it bet- 
ter.” 

“ Then the fairy story first, please,” Elsa said, 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 43 

contentedly. She had one of the little dolls in her 
arms. 

“Didn’t the fairy story really happen, too?” 
Alice asked quickly. She had chosen from among 
the dolls a blue-eyed, yellow-haired one that looked 
very much like herself. 

“ What a silly question, Baby Alice,” cried Betty. 
“Of course fairy stories aren’t true.” 

“ What makes you like fairy stories, Betty, if 
they are not true?” Elsa asked, seeing that Alice 
looked hurt. 

“ Because fairies are so dear and kind that it 
makes you wish they were true,” Betty replied. 

“ Fairy stories were true in the once-upon-a-time 
days,” said Miss Ruth, to> end the discussion ; “ that 
is, people believed in fairies,” she added. 

“ Are these the dresses for us to make, all pinned 
on to the dolls, Miss Ruth? ” Elsa asked. “ We’ve 
talked so much about other things that we haven’t 
said hardly anything about the dolls.” 

“ It’s nice to have their underclothes all made,” 
said Betty, “ because it saves so much of our time.” 
Betty had finally taken one of the largest dolls to 
dress. 

“ Do you each want to dress first the one you 
have chosen? ” asked Miss Ruth. 


44 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“Yes!” “Yes!” was the quick chorus. 

“ Then you may begin now, and I will sew, too,” 
said Miss Ruth, seating herself by the table. “ Here 
is a thimble for each of you, and in this big work- 
basket you will find needles and sewing cotton and 
scissors. Help yourselves to the cookies: and you 
need not be extra careful about crumbs, because 
Sarah is going to sweep the library to-morrow 
morning.” 

The three girls grouped themselves near the table 
and threaded their needles. 

“ Please begin,” Betty whispered, just as Miss 
Ruth was asking of Alice : “ Is Ben coming to the 
Club?” 

“ He wanted to, he told me,” said Alice, “ but the 
other boys teased him to go skating, ’cause Morse’s 
Pond is frozen over.” 

Betty tossed her head : “ I knew he didn’t want to 
belong.” 

“ He told me he did,” said Elsa, who, being sensi- 
tive herself, usually knew when Alice’s feelings 
were hurt. Elsa’s eyes were shining with pleasure : 
it was only half past three o’clock, there was an 
hour and a half of enjoyment ahead, with dolls’ 
dresses all ready to make, ginger cookies to eat, and 
a fairy story to hear. The bright wood-fire spark- 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


45 


ling and crackling added to the cheer. Her eyes 
were dark like purple pansies as she raised them, 
expectantly, to Miss Ruth. 

“ Now that we are all ready,” said Miss Ruth, 
“ I will begin. Prince Gray Owl is the name of the 
story.” 

“ Was the Gray Owl really a prince?” asked 
Alice. 

“ Hush ! ” said Betty. 

Once upon a time, — began Miss Ruth, — there 
was a beautiful princess who lived in a great gray 
castle with her uncle. The castle and the kingdom 
belonged to the princess, but as the king, her father, 
and the queen, her mother, were dead, her uncle 
ruled over the kingdom. 

Princess Katrina was only ten years old when 
her father and mother died. As the years went on, 
her uncle liked better and better to be king, and did 
not want to give up the position. But he knew that 
when Princess Katrina married, he could no longer 
be king, because her husband would become the 
ruler. Many a brave young prince wanted to marry 
the princess, whose great beauty and cheerful heart 
were famed throughout the world. But the uncle 
said “ No ” to each one of these suitors, and or- 


46 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


dered them never to come into the kingdom again 
on penalty of having their heads cut off. 

Princess Katrina was now nineteen years old. 
Her uncle knew that if she were not married before 
she was twenty-one, she could then choose a hus- 
band for herself. So he arranged to have her 
marry, not a prince, but a wicked old king, ruler of 
a far-off country, two days’ journey beyond the sun- 
set. The uncle agreed to give this bad man a large 
sum of gold with the princess, and in return, the 
uncle was to keep the kingdom. For the far-away 
king wanted gold more than he did land. 

Early one September morning Katrina’s uncle 
came to the sunshiny bower where she sat alone, 
embroidering a beautiful scarlet and gold tapestry. 
The princess made a beautiful picture, there in the 
sunshine, with her soft hair shining like spun gold, 
her clear blue eyes, and her fair cheeks tinged with 
rose colour. She looked a royal princess indeed, in 
her blue velvet gown, with a long scarf of light blue 
gauze floating over her shoulders. 

“ Good morning, Uncle Wulfred,” said the prin- 
cess. She was not very fond of her uncle, but she 
always greeted him kindly. 

The wicked uncle had a crafty and cruel face. 
The jewelled gold crown came almost down to the 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


47 


ears of his small, round head, and the kingly, er- 
mine-trimmed green velvet robe hung loosely from 
his short, stooping figure. 

“ Princess niece,” said the uncle, without any 
“ Good morning ” greeting, “ you are now over 
nineteen years old and it is time you were married, 
so I have chosen a husband for you. King Rupert 
from the land two days’ journey beyond the sunset 
is coming at the end of a month to marry you.” 

Princess Katrina’s happy, beautiful face turned 
very pale. “ Do you mean that cross, unkind old 
king who visited you a six-month ago and who one 
day at banquet broke the neck of a poor, faithful 
hound who offended him ? Nay, Uncle Wulfred, I 
will not marry such a man.” 

“ I say you shall marry him,” stormed the uncle, 
walking up and down the room with jingling 
spurs. 

“ Never ! I will die first ! ” cried the princess. 
Rising suddenly in front of her uncle, she faced him 
with white cheeks and flashing eyes. The scarlet 
and gold tapestry fell from her hands to the floor. 

“ You shall marry King Rupert, or die!” the 
uncle shouted; his small eyes snapped angrily, his 
face grew purple, and he brought his steel-gloved 
hand down upon the table so heavily that the em- 


48 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


broidery bodkins and scissors rolled off, clattering, 
to the floor. “ This-very-morning,” he said so fast 
that the words almost tumbled over each other, 
“ I-will-shut-you-up-in-the-East-Tower. At-the- 
end-of-a-week-I-will-come-to-ask-if-you-will-marry- 
King-Rupert. If-you-refuse-to-mind-me, I-will-put- 
you-where-you-will-have-a-harder-time, the-second- 
week.” 

When her uncle stopped, purple in the face, to 
take breath, Princess Katrina answered him scorn- 
fully and without fear: “ You are a wicked uncle. 
It is because you want to keep my kingdom that you 
are trying to make me marry that cruel old king, 
who lives far away.” 

At these words, the uncle grew more angry than 
ever, because they were the truth. He stamped 
heavily with his right foot three times upon the 
stone floor. 

Instantly three tall men in black robes, with black 
masks over their faces, rushed into Katrina’s bower. 
One of the men pushed back from the door- way 
Katrina’s old nurse who lived with the princess now 
as serving-woman. Quickly throwing a part of his 
black robe over the head of the gray-haired woman, 
the man led her away. 

“ Make the princess a prisoner ! ” commanded the 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


49 


uncle, pointing with his sword at Katrina, who did 
not move or even cry out. 

The two men in black seized Katrina roughly by 
the shoulders. 

“ Take this disobedient girl to the East Tower! ” 
roared the angry uncle. 

Katrina did not speak, but her blue eyes gleamed 
proudly as the guards led her away. 

The East Tower was an old, unused part of the 
castle, a long distance from the part where the royal 
household lived. To reach the tower, the guards 
led Katrina through many rooms hung with spiders’ 
webs, over broken stone floors, and along dark 
passage-ways where rats scuttled. 

“ I am glad I wasn’t Katrina to have to go where 
there were rats ! ” exclaimed Alice. 

“Don’t interrupt, Peggy!” cried Betty. 

Miss Ruth smiled, and continued: 

The old East Tower of the castle was almost for- 
gotten. No one ever went there. Tall trees and 
bushes grew up around it, and a deep moat sur- 
rounded it. 

“ What is a moat ? ” asked Betty. 

“ A deep hollow, like a trench or a wide ditch, 


50 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


filled with water,” explained Miss Ruth, and Alice 
whispered — but very sweet-temperedly — to Betty : 
“ Who’s interrupting now ? ” as Miss Ruth began 
again : 

The land beyond the East Tower, across the moat, 
belonged to a neighbouring king, who had been 
away at war for many years. No lonelier place 
than the tower could have been found for a prison. 

“ A safe place for the girl,” said the false king 
to his wicked counsellors when they came back and 
told him they had locked Princess Katrina into the 
upper room of the tower. 

“ But suppose she dies there? ” said one of the 
counsellors, who had a daughter at home, of about 
Katrina’s age. 

“If she dies, no one will be the wiser, and you 
will be rich men,” said the king. “ Be sure you keep 
the old nurse drugged, and a guard to watch her.” 

After that, when the royal ladies of the court 
asked King Wulfred where the princess was, he told 
them she had been suddenly called away by the ill- 
ness of her aunt in another kingdom, and that the 
old nurse had gone with the princess. 

Katrina was very lonely and sad the first few days 
in the round upper room of the old stone tower. 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


51 


Three times each day the strong door was unlocked 
and food and candles were set into the room. The 
man who brought the food and the three candles 
would not say a word in answer to Katrina’s ques- 
tions. In the daytime, the princess walked around 
the room, looking from one after another of the 
three windows at the trees outside. When night 
came, she put all three of her candles at the window 
where the leaves of the trees seemed thinnest, ho- 
ping that some one passing might see the light, and 
wonder at its being there in the old, deserted tower, 
and so come to her rescue. 

On the third day, the princess saw the bright eyes 
of a gray squirrel looking in at the window; she 
put some food upon the window-sill, and presently 
the squirrel came in through the iron bars, ate the 
food, then sat up on his haunches and looked at her 
quite fearlessly. 

“ I would help you if I could,” said the gray 
squirrel, unexpectedly, “ but all I can do is to give 
you my company.” 

Katrina was greatly surprised to hear the squirrel 
speak, but she answered quickly: “ If you will talk 
with me sometimes that will help me, for I am so 
lonely.” 

“ I will come every day,” he replied. “ Now I 


52 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


must go home to arrange my engagements.” 
Straightening out his splendid bushy tail, he jumped 
from the window-sill into the thick leaves of an 
oak-tree, out of sight, like a flash. 

After that, the gray squirrel came every day at 
exactly the same time. He sat on Katrina’s shoulder 
and chattered about his busy life in the great forest; 
and in turn Katrina told him about her being shut 
up in the tower by her cruel uncle. 

“ I would help you if I could,” said the squirrel 
one day, growing so angry over her imprisonment 
that he tried to bite the iron bars of the window, and 
in doing so, broke off two of his best front teeth. 
From that time, Princess Katrina gave him more 
of her food, because he could not crack nuts so well 
now. “ Elf will mend my teeth some day, elf will 
mend them,” said the squirrel cheerfully. 

On the afternoon of the seventh day, the cruel 
uncle unlocked the door of the tower- room and 
stood before the princess. He was covered with 
dust and cobwebs from coming through the unused 
rooms and dark passages which led to the tower. 

“ Is my dear niece ready to obey me and marry 
King Rupert ? ” the uncle asked in a make-believe 
anxious voice. 

Princess Katrina held up her head courageously. 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


53 


“ Never ! ” she said : “ I will never consent to marry 
that dreadful old man.” Her golden hair gleamed 
like sunshine against the dark gray stone walls. 

She was so brave and fair standing there in her 
royal blue velvet gown, facing him, that her uncle 
was half afraid. “ It is for your good,” he said in 
a shaking voice, the keys jingling in his hand. 

Katrina answered him quickly : “ It is for your 
gain.” 

Then the uncle cried out fast, with blazing 
eyes : “ This-next-week-you-shall-live-in-the-lower- 
room-and-have-food-only-twice-a-day-and-only-two- 
candles-for-the-night. At-the-end-of-a-week-I-will- 
visit-you-and-if-you-refuse-to-marry-King-Rupert-I- 
will-put-you-where-you-have-a-harder-time.” Seiz- 
ing her wrist, he dragged her roughly behind him 
through the door and down the narrow, winding 
stone steps to the room below, thrust her into it, 
and locked the creaking, heavy door upon her. 

That night Princess Katrina was dreadfully 
afraid. A wild storm of wind and rain shook the 
tower and made her candle-light flicker. Once when 
something gray brushed against the window she 
shrieked aloud; but, watching, she saw that the 
gray object stopped on a branch of the great oak- 
tree outside the window, and that it was a large, 


54 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


soft owl, as tall as a man. The owl sat there a long 
time, staring at the candle-light with blinking yel- 
low eyes that had tiny black spots at their centre, 
and the princess was comforted by the sense of com- 
panionship. 

The next morning when the food and candles 
were brought, a package was put with them, inside 
the door. 

Katrina hurriedly unwrapped the package and 
was overjoyed to find in it her scarlet and gold 
tapestry, her bodkins, her skeins of scarlet and gold 
embroidery silk, and a little paper cleverly sewed on 
the very place where she had stopped her work the 
morning when her uncle came into her bower. On 
the paper was written, in her old nurse’s hand- 
writing : “ The counsellors kept me drugged for a 
week, then they told me you had gone away. I 
did not believe them, and I bribed the guard, with 
all the gold I had, to tell me where you are and to 
takes these things to you. Keep a good heart. I go 
away from the castle to help you.” 

When the gray squirrel came, early that after- 
noon, Katrina told him what had happened and 
asked him what he thought. 

The gray squirrel sat up very still and looked at 
the princess out of his round black eyes : “ The 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 55 

gray owl will rescue you,” said the squirrel at last, 
solemnly. 

“ Who told you so ? ” asked the princess. 

“ I heard the blue jays talking about it this morn- 
ing,” he said, winking his eyes rapidly. 

“Who told the bluejays?” Katrina inquired. 

“ They are great gossips : they hear things by 
listening at the front doors of the other birds’ 
homes.” The squirrel looked so fierce all at once 
that the princess asked quickly : “ Do you know the 
gray owl ? ” and before the squirrel could answer, 
began telling him about the gray owl she had seen 
outside her window the night before. “ Do you 
know him ? ” she asked again. 

“ I know some gray owls, — I am sorry to say,” 
replied the squirrel, shaking his tail. 

The princess opened her blue eyes very wide as 
she asked, “ Why are you sorry? ” 

“ Squirrels and owls cannot be friendly,” said 
the gray squirrel rather sadly. 

“ Why? ” asked the princess. 

“ Because it has always been so,” he answered, 
whisking his tail excitedly and jumping out of the 
window so that the princess could not ask him any 
more questions. 

That afternoon as Katrina began embroidering 


56 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


once more upon her scarlet and gold tapestry, her 
thoughts were even busier than her fingers. What 
did her nurse mean by writing that puzzling sen- 
tence: “ I go away from the castle to help you?” 
Over and over again, Katrina turned these words 
in her mind. But she felt comforted and hopeful. 

When darkness fell, the princess put her two can- 
dles at the window, and said to herself : “ Perhaps 
the gray owl will come again to the oak-tree.” For 
a long time she waited with her tender face pressed 
against the iron bars. By and by she heard a soft 
whirr-r of wings, and the gray owl settled upon a 
branch below the window. 

Katrina looked eagerly into the round, blinking 
eyes: “ I wish you could speak,” she said, half- 
aloud. 

The gray owl stepped so near the light that the 
little black line almost faded out of his yellow eyes. 
Katrina was surprised at the owl’s great size, and 
even more surprised to hear a muffled voice say: 
“ Keep a good heart. I will save you.” Then the 
owl spread its soft wings and flew noiselessly away. 

It was soon after that the princess heard a faint, 
regular sound, as of iron striking against stone; 
and the sound lasted all night, — as long as she 
stayed awake, which was a long time, for she kept 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


57 


asking herself over and over again : “ Will the 
gray owl really save me from this dungeon ? ” 
The squirrel had said the owl would do this, and 
now the owl himself said so. 

In the days of Princess Katrina, the world of 
mankind had not moved very far away from fairy- 
land. The princess was not half so much astonished 
to hear a squirrel and an owl speak as a princess 
would be to-day. Katrina’s old nurse had told her 
many a tale of wonder; the nurse had that very 
day sent the message, “ Keep a good heart ; ” and 
the gray owl had repeated the same words, “ Keep 
a good heart.” By and by Katrina fell asleep, still 
puzzled, but happy in having such good friends as 
the nurse, the squirrel and the owl. 

The next morning, when the squirrel came as 
usual, Katrina asked his opinion about the owl and 
the strange noise; but all the squirrel would say 
was : “ Owls are very strong. Owls have sharp, 
strong beaks.” Then he whisked away, as if in 
haste. So Katrina stopped talking to the squirrel 
about the owl after that, for the subject seemed to 
offend him. 

Every night, regularly, when darkness fell, Ka- 
trina heard the faint pick ! pick ! of iron upon stone, 
and every night, as she leaned against the window- 


58 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


bars, after the pick! pick! began, she heard the 
muffled words, “ Keep a good heart ! ” She did not 
always see the owl, but on those nights she thought 
the owl must have perched upon a branch much 
lower than her window, for, straining her eyes, she 
could see a gray shape below. 

When the end of the second week came, Katrina 
wound the scarlet and gold tapestry around her 
slender body, under her blue velvet gown, so that 
her uncle should not see it. All day long she waited 
for him, but he did not come until dusk. The key 
turned slowly in the rusty lock. Her uncle stood 
before her. 

“ Girl ! Katrina ! ” he shouted, for he was fright- 
ened by her white face. “ Have you come to your 
senses? Are you ready to marry King Rupert? ” 

“ Never ! I will never marry King Rupert,” Ka- 
trina answered, looking at her uncle with flashing 
blue eyes so like those of his dead brother, her 
father, that the uncle swore a terrible oath to keep 
up his courage, and said very fast, though his teeth 
chattered : “ Down — to — the — dungeon — with 

— you ! Food — only — once — a — day. One — 
small — candle — for — the — night. Be — ready 

— to — marry — King — Rupert — at — the — 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


59 


end — of — a — week — or — you — will — have 
— a — harder — time.” 

With trembling hands the coward uncle put a 
key into a keyhole in the floor, raised a trap-door 
by an iron ring, and pushed Katrina down the dark 
stairs. She lifted her white face bravely and said : 
“Never will I do your bidding;” then the trap- 
door closed over her head. 

Down into the darkness the beautiful princess felt 
her way. After a few moments she could see, by 
the dim light that came in from the one window, 
a rough wooden bench, a stool, and a pile of dry 
leaves in one comer. Outside the window, the oak 
leaves were very thick. Katrina reached through 
the iron bars and broke the leaves from the nearest 
branches. The strong stems hurt her hands, but 
she gained a little more light and air. 

Before the dim twilight faded away, brave Ka- 
trina stirred the dry leaves on the stone floor and 
found to her great comfort that there were no 
creeping things underneath. After putting her scar- 
let and gold tapestry over the leaves to make a bed 
for herself, she lighted her one candle, and placing 
it upon the wooden bench before the window, sat 
down beside it. Darkness had hardly fallen before 


60 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


she heard the pick! pick! as of iron upon stone, 
and lo ! the sounds seemed close at her side. 

Suppose the sounds were some plan of her uncle’s 
to frighten her? For a moment Katrina’s courage 
sank at the thought. But just then she heard a 
muffled voice ask : " Are you there, Princess ? ” 

“ Yes,” she answered faintly. “ Who are you? ” 
The dungeon walls were thicker than the walls 
above; Katrina could only press so near the win- 
dow as to see a gray figure outside. 

“ Your friend, the Gray Owl,” said the low voice. 
“ We must not talk much, for fear some one hear 
us. But keep a good heart.” 

Each day of that third week the princess worked 
a little while with the shining gold silk upon the 
tapestry; it was so dark in the dungeon that she 
could not see, even at noonday, to use the scarlet 
silk. She felt very faint, because she had only one 
meal a day, of bread and water, and she gave some 
of the bread to her daily visitor, the squirrel, who 
grew very thin without his usual nuts. She begged 
him every day to go to the elf and have his teeth 
mended, but he always answered : “ It is a long 
way, and I will not go until you are saved.” 

On the fifth night of that week when the pick! 
pick! as of iron upon stone began, the princess 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


61 


went to the window and whispered sadly : “ I can- 
not keep heart much longer,” and the low, muf- 
fled voice of the gray owl answered : “ Courage ! 
keep a good heart for one day more.” 

Upon the sixth day there was a dark tempest. 
Even at high noon the dungeon was dark. The 
gray squirrel looked wet and discouraged when he 
sprang in through the window at the usual time. 

“ Do you think the gray owl is going to save 
me? ” asked the princess in her despair. 

At the mention of the gray owl, the squirrel 
jumped for the window, but it was so dark in the 
dungeon that he bumped into the wall and fell upon 
the stone floor. 

He held up a hurt front paw as Katrina ran to 
him. “Will you bind it with silk for me?” he 
asked. “ Elf will mend it when I go to him, elf 
will mend it. But I shall have to stay with you 
now, because I cannot jump — nor even walk,” he 
said, trying to rise but falling over again. 

Katrina bound the wounded paw tenderly. All 
that afternoon the squirrel seemed to be thinking 
deeply, and Katrina could not make him talk. 

Utter darkness fell early. The dungeon grew 
very cold, so that both Katrina and the squirrel 
shivered. She wrapped herself in the scarlet and 


62 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


gold tapestry, took the squirrel in her hands, and 
crouched near the window. 

Soon came a stir in the leaves outside. “ Are 
you there, Princess ? ” asked the muffled voice. Ka- 
trina felt the squirrel begin to tremble violently. 

“ Yes, Gray Owl,” she answered, waiting for him 
to say, “ Keep a good heart.” But instead, he said : 
“ Prepare to leave the dungeon, Princess. Stand 
away from the window, for soon a large stone of 
the wall will fall into the dungeon.” 

Katrina moved to the opposite side, having hard 
work to keep the squirrel in her hands ; he acted so 
frightened that she knew now it had been fear, not 
anger, which made him run away every time the 
owl’s name was mentioned. 

“Are you safe, Princess?” came the gray owl’s 
question. 

“ Yes,” she cried. Then she saw a heavy stone 
of the wall move inward more and more until it slid 
to the ground with a dull sound, and left a large 
open space in the wall. 

“ Here’s the boy of the Club,” announced Sarah, 
appearing at the door, followed by Ben. 

Ruth Warren went forward to greet the red- 
cheeked boy, whose hair lay wet upon his forehead. 



“ ‘ YES, GRAY OWL,’ 


SHE ANSWERED.” 


■ 






























































































































































































PRINCE GRAY OWL 


“ I thought I’d come for a little while,” said Ben, 
his eyes upon the last cookie in the plate, a long- 
necked horse. “ Skating wasn’t much good, and I 
got in twice.” His wet shoes proved this. 

“ Sit here by the hearth and dry your feet, Ben,” 
said Miss Ruth, turning to brighten the fire. 

“ Let me do that,” said Ben gallantly, reaching 
for the tongs. 

Sarah took the plate from the table and vanished. 
Alice began explaining things to Ben : 

“ Miss Ruth is telling us a story about Prince 
Gray Owl, and he is just saving Princess Katrina 
from the dungeon. I can tell you the first of it on 
the way home, Ben.” Alice had jumped up from 
her chair and was devotedly watching her brother 
while he blew to start the fire until his red cheeks 
stood out like small balloons. 

“ Please go on with the story, Miss Ruth,” cried 
Betty, impatient at the delay. 

But just then Sarah came in with the large plate 
piled high again with cookies, Ben put the tongs 
back in their place and seated himself contentedly 
near the cookies. 

Miss Ruth spent a moment or two in looking over 
the girls’ sewing. Betty had already made one 
doll’s dress and begun another. Elsa and Alice 


64 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


were just finishing their first ones. When Miss 
Ruth seated herself again, Elsa drew her chair 
nearer, and every now and then, as Miss Ruth went 
on with the story, Elsa reached out and stroked the 
soft fur on the golden brown gown. 

“ Princess, can you come through this opening in 
the wall?” asked a voice outside of the window- 
bars. 

Trembling now with excitement, the princess took 
up the tapestry which had fallen around her and 
made it into a long roll, slender like herself. 

“ Try if this will go through, Gray Owl,” she 
said. The squirrel clung to her shoulder. 

Slowly the roll of tapestry disappeared through 
the opening. 

“ Do you dare follow, Princess ? ” came the thrill- 
ing question. 

“ I dare — and I follow,” she answered. 

“ Save me ! ” cried the squirrel. 

Katrina hid the shivering little creature in the 
folds of her blue gossamer scarf, and with a last 
look around the dread dungeon, extended her arms 
and put her head and shoulders through the opening 
in the wall. Even before the rain-drops outside fell 
upon her hands, she felt both hands grasped 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


65 


strongly, and she was drawn gently and steadily 
forward until she could spring to her feet upright 
upon the soft ground. 

Before her stood — not the gray owl she had 
expected to see, but a tall young man with a grace- 
ful figure, and richly dressed in a princely robe of 
dark green velvet. 

The young man bowed low before Katrina. 
“ Princess,” he said, “ I am the oldest son of the 
king, your neighbour. I was slightly wounded in 
one of my father's battles, and I came home the 
very day that your old nurse escaped to my father's 
castle and told of your imprisonment in this dun- 
geon. I took the shape of an owl and flew across 
the moat, and as it was my right arm which was 
wounded, I kept the owl's shape and worked with 
the strong beak to remove this stone and free you.” 

“ Sir, never did a knight do more for a maiden,” 
said the princess, in turn bowing low. She saw 
that his right arm hung in a sling. 

“ I will now fly with you to my father’s castle, 
where my mother, the queen, and your faithful 
nurse await you,” said the prince. 

Seeing the 'wonder on the sweet face of the prin- 
cess, the prince said : “ Once, when I was a boy, 
I saved a young gray owl from a fierce eagle ; and 


66 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


the gray owl’s father was so grateful that he gave 
me the power to change into a gray owl, at will.” 

Then the prince said something which sounded 
like — 

“ Gray owl, gray owl, 

I would be 
A strong gray owl, 

Like to thee.” 

And he turned into a great, soft- feathered gray owl. 
It could not have been just those words, — because 
Katrina tried to use them so that she might turn 
into an owl herself, long afterward, just for fun. 

The prince, now the gray owl, spread out one of 
his soft wings and took the princess under it; then 
he gathered the roll of tapestry under the other 
wing, and flew away, over the moat, toward his 
father’s castle. 

“ What about the gray squirrel ? ” asked Ben, 
excitedly flourishing a half-eaten camel. 

On the flight to the home of the prince — said 
Miss Ruth — Katrina told the prince about the gray 
squirrel, whose little heart she could feel all the 
time beating against hers. “ I have him with me, 
under my scarf,” she said. “ He is afraid of you, 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 67 

I think,” she added, so low that the squirrel could 
not hear. 

“ The gray owls will do anything for me,” said 
the prince in a loud voice. “ I will tell the greatest 
gray owl, the king of the forest, that from this time 
forth the owls and the squirrels must live peaceably 
together.” 

Hearing this, the squirrel took courage and put 
his head out from the folds of Katrina’s blue scarf. 
“ Thank you, Gray Owl,” he said gratefully. Then 
he slipped away, for they were near the home of 
the elf, and he was anxious to have his front teeth 
and his broken paw mended. 

It happened that the neighbouring king, who had 
been for many years away at war, grew alarmed 
when his son, Prince Edward, was wounded; and 
so the king came hurrying home the very night of 
the day that Princess Katrina was rescued from 
the dungeon. When this good king heard the story 
of her imprisonment, he decided to set forth the 
next morning to punish her wicked uncle, Wulfred, 
whom he had never liked, but with whom he had 
lived in peace, up to this time. 

That day, at noon, the false king made his way 
to the East Tower and lifted up the trap-door of 
the dungeon. “ Katrina ! are you ready to marry 


68 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


King Rupert ? ” he shouted down into the darkness. 

No voice answered. The uncle called again in 
a louder voice. Still no answer came. He peered 
down into the blackness by the light of a long torch 
he had brought, but he could see nothing except 
the bed of leaves, the rude bench and the chair. 

“ She lies dead under the leaves,” the uncle whis- 
pered to himself with chattering teeth. A bat flew 
against his face. Shaking with fear, he let the trap- 
door fall and hurried away, back through the wind- 
ing, cobwebby passages, to the state rooms of the 
palace. 

But there more fears awaited him. His three 
wicked counsellors rushed up and drew him to the 
front window, crying : “ See ! ” “ A foe is march- 
ing upon us ! ” “A great and mighty army ! ” 

The false king saw in the distance an army of 
hundreds of men, all in glistening armour, with 
waving plumes and gleaming shields, line after line 
stretching far into the distance. At the head of the 
army, upon a magnificent black war-horse, rode the 
neighbouring king, clad in a suit of mail, with a 
glittering helmet on his head, surmounted by a flow- 
ing white plume. Behind the king, each upon a 
beautiful white horse, rode Prince Edward and 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


69 


Princess Katrina; and upon the shoulder of the 
princess perched a large gray squirrel. 

“ Then what happened ? ” questioned Betty, 
breathlessly. 

Miss Ruth, glancing at the clock, saw that the 
hands pointed closely to five, so she told the rest 
of the story very fast : 

The wicked uncle was a coward before danger. 
When he found that the princess was with this 
great army, he made no resistance, but at once or- 
dered the white flag of surrender to be flung out 
from the tower, for he knew that the powerful 
neighbouring king would not fail to avenge Ka- 
trina’s wrongs. 

The conquering king made the wicked uncle a 
prisoner, and had him put into the same dungeon 
where Katrina had been imprisoned. Prince Ed- 
ward and Princess Katrina were married soon after, 
and ruled happily for many, many years. Behind 
their thrones hung the splendid scarlet-and-gold 
tapestry upon which the princess had worked dur- 
ing those dreary days in the dungeon. When the 
wicked uncle was an old man, grown thin and 
white-haired, Katriina had him set free from prison, 


70 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


and he spent his last days at the court, playing with 
a feeble, old gray squirrel. 

“ Is that all ? ” sighed Betty, when Miss Ruth 
stopped talking. 

“ Thank you ever so much,” said Elsa, as she sat 
looking into the fire : “ I like Prince Gray Owl,” 
she added soberly. 

“ I think Katrina was the best, though’, because 
she had the poor old uncle pardoned,” said tender- 
hearted Alice. 

“ What about the owls and the squirrels ? ” asked 
Ben, who was still eating ginger cookies. 

“ O, the owls and the squirrels lived happily to- 
gether ever after in the woods around, even ‘ as far 
as the lands of the wicked King Rupert, two days’ 
journey beyond the sunset/ ” said Miss Ruth. 

“ I wish there was some more about them ! ” 
exclaimed Betty. 

“ There is more about the owls and the squirrels 
all the time, in the woods,” said Miss Ruth. 
“ How would you like some Friday afternoon, in- 
stead of having our meeting in the house, to walk 
out to the Convalescent Home and then come back 
through the woods ? ” 

Each and every member of the Club agreed that 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


71 


this would be a splendid way to have a club-meet- 
ing. “ We could take home the sewing that we 
would do at the meeting,” suggested Betty, “ and 
bring it all finished to the next meeting, so as not 
to lose time dressing the dolls. ,, 

“ You have done well this afternoon, girls,” said 
Miss Ruth, beginning to gather up the dolls and 
their dresses ; “ and Betty’s idea is a good one. 
Each of you ask at home if she may go on the walk, 
and perhaps we can have it next Friday.” 

“ Then we can all see the Convalescings,” said 
Ben eagerly. “ They are nice little children, and I 
like to see them getting well.” 

“ Five o’clock and five minutes after ! ” cried 
Elsa, springing up. “ I must go, or grandmother 
will not like it.” 

“ Do you have to mind — even five minutes ? ” 
asked Betty, in surprise. 

“ Yes,” answered Elsa, hurriedly putting on her 
long black cloak. “ Uncle Ned tells me to do just 
what grandmother says.” 

“ Who is your Uncle Ned ? ” inquired Betty, who 
was taking a few last stitches in the doll’s dress. 

“ Uncle Ned? He is the nicest and the dearest 
and the best man in all the world,” said Elsa, her 
violet-gray eyes growing eloquent with feeling. 


72 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ He is nicer even than Prince Gray Owl, and I 
miss him all the time. Good-bye/’ And Elsa ran 
away with her wide black felt hat hanging from 
her arm, and with something very much like tears 
shining in her eyes. 

Betty had sewed rapidly, and now she held up a 
second doll’s dress, finished. 

“ Good, Betty ! ” said Miss Ruth. “ Let me count 
how many we have done, — your two, Elsa and 
Alice each one, and two of mine, six in all, out of 
the twenty-four; it will take us just three meetings 
more to finish the eighteen dresses that are left.” 

“ Then we can do some paper dolls, and rag 
dolls,” said Alice, clapping her hands softly. 

“ Maybe I could help about the paper dolls ; ” 
Ben made the suggestion with a rather careless air. 
“ I could paint dresses, because I know what looks 
pretty. When I grow up to be a man I am going 
to earn a lot of money and buy pretty dresses for 
Alice, and I’m going to get her a black lace one and 
a yellowy brown one trimmed with fur,” he said, 
slowly. 

Miss Ruth nodded encouragingly as she met 
Ben’s earnest blue eyes. 

“ I will give you some of the pretty dresses, 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


73 


Betty/’ said Alice unselfishly, feeling perfectly sure 
that Ben would do whatever he promised. 

Betty almost said, “ I have prettier dresses now 
than you have,” but she stopped just in time and 
said instead : “ I will give you a blue velvet dress, 
like Princess Katrina’s.” 

To-day, Alice’s blue sailor-suit looked more worn 
and even shorter than before, and Ben’s sturdy little 
figure seemed almost bursting out through his tight 
jacket. But both Alice and Ben were too happy- 
natured to care much about clothes. He helped her 
on with her shabby blue coat most affectionately. 
The twins were very fond of one another, although 
Ben, being a boy, did not think so much about this 
as Alice did, for she openly and eagerly showed her 
love for him. 

It was after quarter past five o’clock when Elsa 
Danforth, waiting in the bay-window of the dining- 
room for her bread-and-milk supper, saw Betty and 
Alice and Ben come out of the Warren house. 
“ They have had all this much longer good time ! ” 
Elsa said to herself. Life seemed especially lonely 
to her just then. Her grandmother had reproved 
her for being late, as well as for running home 
without her hat on. 


74 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Elsa was just a simple and loving little girl, who 
tried very hard not to be an unhappy one, although 
she knew she was living without many things which 
other little girls had in their homes and with their 
mothers. She was lonelier than ever that night, 
when bed-time came : and this is how it happened. 

Mrs. Dan forth had hired a pew at the largest 
church in Berkeley, and had given money gener- 
ously whenever asked to help any good cause. It 
had come time for the ladies of the church to make 
their yearly gift of clothing and toys to the Con- 
valescent Home. And Mrs. Everett, the head of 
the committee, called upon Mrs. Dan forth for some 
money, that afternoon. 

“ It seems too bad to spend money for playthings 
when so much is needed for clothing,” said Mrs. 
Everett, as she folded the crisp ten-dollar bill which 
Mrs. Danforth handed her. “ Has your grandchild 
any old toys which might do for the children? ” 

“ I am sure she has,” replied Mrs. Danforth, re- 
membering a large boxful of half- worn toys in the 
garret, — toys which Elsa had said she was tired 
of. 

“ I could take them in my carriage now,” said 
Mrs. Everett. She was a large-hearted woman, 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 75 

much interested in the Convalescent Home and 
eager to help it. 

Mrs. Danforth rang for her maid. “ Cum- 
mings/ J she said to the very prim and proper look- 
ing woman in starched white cap and black dress 
who appeared instantly, “ bring down that boxful 
of Miss Elsa’s old toys from the garret. I am go- 
ing to give them to a children’s home.” 

As Cummings went noiselessly out of the room, 
Mrs. Danforth asked of her caller : “ Do you hap- 
pen to know a poor family by the name of Colt or 
Holt who live just outside the town? ” The proud- 
faced woman bent forward to disentangle the gold 
chain of her eye-glasses from the jet ornaments of 
her waist. 

“ Yes, I know the Holts,” said Mrs. Everett. 
“ They are poor but very self-respecting people.” 

“ They have a market-garden, I believe ? ” said 
Mrs. Danforth, still struggling with the chain. 

“ Yes,” replied Mrs. Everett, “ and they raise 
excellent lettuce and radishes; I can safely recom- 
mend their garden products to you. May I help 
you with that chain, Mrs. Danforth ? ” 

“ Thank you, I have it free now,” said Mrs. Dan- 
forth, leaning back and changing the subject. 


76 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


When Cummings came noiselessly in again, with 
a large pasteboard box, almost full of tin soldiers, 
picture-books and such playthings, she suggested 
very respectfully. “ Miss Elsa has the lower 
drawer of her bureau full of toys, ma’am.” 

“ Are you sure Miss Elsa does not play with 
them, Cummings ? ” 

The gray-haired woman shook her head primly: 
“ Oh, no, ma’am ; she never touches them,” — 
which was the truth, so far as Cummings knew. 

“ Very well; bring them also,” said Mrs. Dan- 
forth. 

As a result, some battered dolls’ furniture, two 
or three boxes of games, and one small china doll 
were added to the collection in the pasteboard box. 
Cummings took the now-filled box out to Mrs. 
Everett’s carriage, and the kind-hearted woman 
drove away, happy in having secured both money 
and playthings for the Convalescent Home. 

When Elsa was ready for bed that night, she 
opened the lower drawer of the white bureau to 
take out Bettina. Her hand fell upon heaped-up 
ruffled and embroidered garments. 

She turned on the electric light. There, in place 
of the odd assortment of playthings under which 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


77 


she had kept Bettina hidden, was a pile of white 
underclothing. 

Something seemed almost to stop Elsa’s heart 
from beating as she opened one bureau drawer after 
another, and even hunted under the bureau, without 
finding her beloved doll. Suddenly she remembered 
hearing her grandmother say, that evening, that she 
had given away some old toys to the Convalescent 
Home children, and her own answer : (( I am glad 
you did, grandmother.” Bettina must have been 
among them. 

Sobbing bitterly, yet without making any sound, 
Elsa turned off the light and crept into bed. She 
felt so lonely and wretched that she could not go 
to sleep. After awhile, she climbed out of bed and 
stood in front of the row of dolls on the white couch 
between the windows. She chose the smallest of 
these dolls, the one which was most like Bettina, 
held her for a moment, then kissed her, put her 
down and crept back to bed. Much as she missed 
Bettina, she could not bear to take another doll in 
her place. Again the child fell to sobbing in an 
agony of loneliness. 

She heard the great clock in the hall chime nine; 
a moment after, Cummings closed the door of her 
own room. When the chimes rang out the half- 


78 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


hour, Mrs. Danforth’s steps came up the polished 
front stairs, passed Elsa’s door, and Elsa heard her 
grandmother’s door close. Soon the house was 
quiet, save for the sound of heavy breathing from 
Cummings’s room. Cummings could be noiseless 
by day but not by night. 

Elsa felt that she could not stay in bed another 
moment. She sprang out and went again to the 
row of dolls. Looking out of the window, she saw 
a shadow pass across the thin lace curtains of the 
Warrens’ library windows, — a shadow which she 
knew must be Miss Ruth’s. 

A desperate hope of comfort flashed into Elsa’s 
mind. Without a moment’s delay, she slipped her 
little bare feet into her white, fur-lined bedroom 
shoes, put on the thick, long, white bathrobe which 
hung over a chair, and softly opened her door. 
Then with a quick-beating heart but without any 
thought of fear, she crept down the stairs, took a 
great fur cape of her grandmother’s from the hall, 
undid the front-door latch, left the door ajar, and 
ran down the steps, in the faint moonlight, and 
across the dry grass of the lawn to the Warrens’ 
house. 

Ruth Warren had just put out the lights in the 
library and was fastening back the curtains when 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


79 


she saw the strange little figure speeding toward her 
house. “ Fairy or elf or child, — who is it, I won- 
der ?” she said to herself. There was something 
so distressful-looking in the little hurrying figure 
that she did not wait for the bell to ring. 

“ Why, Elsa dear, what is the trouble ? ” she 
asked, drawing the child into the hall. 

Elsa clung to Miss Ruth, sobbing in heart-broken 
fashion. 

“ Has anything happened to your grand- 
mother ? ” 

“No, O, no, — not that — I’ve lost — ” but sobs 
drowned the words. 

“ Have your cry out, dear, and then tell me about 
it.” Miss Ruth led Elsa into the library, drew a 
chair in front of the fireplace where the coals were 
yet glowing brightly, unfastened the heavy fur cape 
and took the slender little white-gowned figure into 
her arms. 

The comfort of being told to cry all she wanted 
to, and of having kind arms around her soon 
quieted Elsa’s sobs. 

With only a little break in her voice, now and 
then, she told the story of her loss, feeling, with a 
child’s sure intuition, that Miss Ruth understood. 
“ It is — so hard,” she said with a final sigh, hiding 


80 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

her face against the friendly shoulder; “ I have had 
Bettina ever since nurse went away.” 

“ I know it is hard, dear,” Miss Ruth softly 
stroked the yellow hair. “ What shall we do? ” 

That “ we ” was so comforting. 

“I — I s’pose I must get along without her,” said 
Elsa, sitting upright. The quivering lips and tear- 
dimmed violet-gray eyes told the grief in her heart, 
but her bravery was conquering now. 

“ How old are you, Elsa? ” asked Miss Ruth. 

“ Almost twelve.” 

Miss Ruth wisely waited. 

There was a tender apology in Elsa’s voice when 
she spoke again : “ Grandmother didn’t know about 
Bettina. She doesn’t know how lonesome I am.” 

Then Elsa turned and looked eagerly into Miss 
Ruth’s face : “ Is your room over the library ? ” 

“ Yes, right over this room.” 

Elsa slipped off from Miss Ruth’s lap to the arm 
of the chair : “I — I think I could go back now 
and go to sleep — without Bettina — if you would 
just leave one curtain up a little wee bit so as I 
could know you — you thought about me — once in 
awhile,” she said slowly. “I — I shouldn’t feel so 
lonely then, — ’cause from where my bed is I can 
look right out to the window where there is a tall 


PRINCE GRAY OWL 


81 


green vase — I thought maybe it was your room.” 

“ I will leave that curtain up a little way every 
night, Elsa, and I will put a rose in that vase to- 
night, especially for you, so that you can see the 
shadow on the curtain,” said Miss Ruth, rising. 

“ O, will you ? ” The silvery voice was eloquent 
with gratitude. As Elsa raised her head she sud- 
denly felt very tired and sleepy. Indeed, the child 
was almost worn out. 

“ Now, Elsa, I am going to bring you a glass of 
milk and then go home with you,” said Miss Ruth. 
“ Just think how alarmed your grandmother would 
be if she should miss you.” 

“ O, I know she hasn’t missed me,” exclaimed 
Elsa. “ She never thinks about me, I am sure, after 
I go to bed.” And Miss Ruth left the child sitting 
up with shining eyes and a bright red spot on each 
cheek. 

Elsa was drinking the milk just as the clock 
struck ten. Quite as if her grandmother had told 
her to come home at exactly ten o’clock, she slipped 
down from the chair, pulled the great fur cape over 
her shoulders, and waited in the hall, a brave little 
figure with a flushed face, while Miss Ruth put on 
her red golf cape. 

Miss Ruth fastened the long fur cape securely 


82 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


around Elsa, — for the night air was chilling cold, 
— opened the front door, and, before the child real- 
ized it, took her up, a soft, furry bundle and a heavy 
one, — and ran with her across the strip of lawn. 
The door of the Dan forth house was ajar. 

“ Hush, be very quiet, dear, or we shall wake 
your grandmother,” she said, dropping the furry 
bundle on the top step of the Danforth veranda and 
kissing the warm, sleepy face. “ Lock the door 
safely, and go straight to bed and to sleep.” 

But Elsa stopped long enough to whisper into 
Miss Ruth’s ear : “ Thank you ever and ever so 
much.” 

Almost as soon as Elsa had put down the latch, 
left the fur cape in the hall and crept up-stairs to 
bed, she saw a light in Miss Ruth’s room and one 
window shade raised just a little. Even while her 
eyes were fixed upon the shadow of a rose against 
the curtain, she fell fast asleep and dreamed that 
her Uncle Ned came in the shape of a great gray 
owl, and rescued her out of a white-walled dun- 


geon. 


CHAPTER III 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 

The world is so full of a number of things, 

I am sure we should all be as happy as kings. 

— Robert Louis Stevenson. 

WISH we could walk out to the Con- 
valescent Home this afternoon,” were 
Betty’s first words when the three girls 
reached Miss Ruth’s house the next Fri- 
day, all very much out of breath from their haste. 
“ I am tired, school has been so dull and stupid,” 
said Betty, “ and my head aches. Please can 
we go ? ” Betty, from at first not wanting to go 
to the Convalescent Home, now wanted very much 
to go, for, since then, Alice had been telling her 
more about it. 

“ Would you like to take the walk this afternoon, 
Elsa ? ” Miss Ruth inquired. “ Is your grand- 
mother willing for you to go ? ” 

“ Yes, Miss Ruth,” replied Elsa; “ I asked grand- 
mother about it this noon, and she said if you 
thought it was all right, I might go any time.” 

83 



84 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Miss Ruth turned next to Alice : “ Does it suit 
you, Alice? ” 

Alice also was eager for the visit, so Miss Ruth 
decided that there could be no better time. The 
three girls were tired and fagged from their school, 
and fresh air would do them more good than stay- 
ing indoors. The afternoon was sunshiny, the 
ground bare of snow, and outdoors looked very 
tempting. And it was, moreover, the day after 
Thanksgiving, when children do not always feel at 
their best. 

“ We will take a lunch with us, — unless you 
would rather have it now,” suggested Miss Ruth. 
As no one seemed to be hungry now, the lunch plan 
met with general favour. 

“ Excuse me then,” said Miss Ruth, “ and I will 
have Sarah put something in a box for us.” 

“ And I will run home and get my thick coat,” 
said Betty, who had worn only a light jacket. “ It 
may be cold coming back, and such a tender little 
plant as I am mustn’t take cold.” In fact, however, 
Betty wanted to tell her mother where she was go- 
ing, as she did not have permission for this par- 
ticular day, as Elsa had. 

Sarah Judd sat in the tidy kitchen knitting a 
white stocking, her needles keeping time with her 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


85 


bobbing curls, her black cat on the table by her 
elbow. At Ruth Warren’s words: “ I want a lunch 
for my little people, Sarah,” the woman snapped 
out : “I declare for it, I’m glad you are goin’ to do 
it yourself. I’m tired of waitin’ on a pack of chil- 
dren that make so many crumbs — ” 

“ Now, Sarah, you know you like having the 
children come here,” interrupted Miss Ruth. “ We 
are going for a walk to-day, as it happens. Is there 
bread enough for sandwiches?” 

“ Yes; ” Sarah made her needles go very fast. 

“ And cookies enough for four children ? ” 

“ Yes.” Then Sarah, who could not make her 
needles go any faster, jumped up with stiff quick- 
ness, exclaiming : “ Land sakes ! let me do it. I 
know what children like; you go ’way an’ I’ll sur- 
prise you and them, too,” — which was exactly 
what the mistress of the house had been waiting for 
Sarah to say. 

She ran up-stairs to tell her Aunt Virginia good- 
bye. When she came into the library again, she 
found that Betty had returned and that the three 
girls were standing around the centre-table where 
the dolls were, trying to decide which they should 
dress next. 

“ Girls, Aunt Virginia wants to see you, because 


86 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


she has heard so much about the Club,” said Miss 
Ruth. 

“You haven’t told her the name, have you?” 
Betty asked anxiously, as they followed Miss Ruth 
up-stairs. 

“ O, no! I just call it ‘ the Club ’ when I speak 
of it.” 

“ That’s the way I do,” Betty said, encoura- 
gingly, running on ahead. 

Miss Virginia Warren was accustomed to take 
extremely good care of herself. To-day she was 
sitting in a large easy chair with soft cushions all 
around her and a dark blue afghan over her knees. 
She was about sixty years old, a large, rather heavy- 
looking woman, very pale because she did not like 
fresh air in her room and never went out-of-doors 
in cold weather ; and indeed, she took as little exer- 
cise as possible all times of the year, because she 
lived in constant fear of bringing on heart trouble. 
Her face, though white, was very fair, and her 
brown eyes — in colour and in a quick way she had 
of raising them — were like Ruth Warren’s, but 
there the likeness ended, for the aunt’s eyes had a 
wilful expression; her mouth also had a selfish 
droop at the corners. 

Miss Virginia was dressed in a light blue wrap- 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


87 


per, much trimmed with white lace. She shook 
hands with each of the three girls, — she had large, 
handsome hands, but without much life in them, — 
then she looked the girls over as if they were a row 
of dolls. 

“ They seem like bright little children,” she said 
slowly, turning to Ruth Warren, her voice sound- 
ing as if she lifted a weight with her chest at each 
breath ; “ but they look so well and strong and so 
full of life,” — here Betty stopped twisting herself, 
— “ so full of life, Ruth,” went on the slow voice, 
“ that I should think they would tire you all out.” 

Miss Virginia, who had leaned forward slightly 
while she spoke, sank back among her pillows. 
“ They may go now,” she said, with a wave of her 
large, white hand in the direction of the embar- 
rassed children ; “ I am tired already,” she repeated, 
“ and you know almost anything brings on heart 
trouble.” 

Ruth Warren had heard this remark hundreds of 
times in the three years since she had offered a 
home to this aunt who was alone in the world ; but 
she was unfailingly kind to the fanciful woman. 
“ Yes, Aunt Virginia, you must be careful,” she 
said, motioning for the children to go down-stairs. 

“ Remember, Aunt Virginia, Sarah will come to 


88 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


you instantly any moment you ring for her/’ said 
Ruth Warren, stopping to arrange her aunt’s pil- 
lows more comfortably, and kissing her on the 
forehead. But the slow yet vigorous voice fol- 
lowed her out of the door : “ I am growing so 
feeble, Ruth, that I soon must have a regular nurse 
to stay with me, especially when you are out.” 

The three girls were unusually quiet when Ruth 
Warren joined them, for her aunt had made them 
feel as if they were very troublesome. 

“ What shall we do about the dolls’ dresses, our 
work to-day? ” the Club president asked cheerfully. 

“ We might each make two at home,” Betty 
found voice to say, for the Club : “ Alice might 
take hers now, and Elsa and I can call for ours.” 

So Alice chose two pink-and-white gingham 
dresses, rolled them into a little bundle and put 
them into the pocket of her blue coat, while Elsa 
and Betty looked on, embarrassed and quiet, even 
now. 

But when Miss Ruth had put on the brown fur- 
trimmed coat and hat which matched her brown 
dress, and the three girls were once out in the open 
air, the shadow cast upon their spirits by Miss Vir- 
ginia vanished entirely. Each one begged to carry 
the straw hand-bag containing the lunch, and they 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


89 


finally agreed to carry it by turns, beginning with 
Elsa, the oldest. 

“ You have to pass my house to go to the Con- 
valescent Home, and there are dogs out that way,” 
suggested Alice, running on ahead and looking back 
at the others. 

“ I will take a stick,” said Elsa. 

“ I will take my feet,” exclaimed Betty. 

“We can stop at my house and ask Ben to go 
with us,” Alice said. “ He had to hurry home from 
school to do errands for mamma, but I think he will 
have them finished now. He knows all the dogs, 
and they all know him.” 

A few moments’ walk took the Club into Berke- 
ley Avenue, a long, wooded road curving ahead. 
Soon the surroundings grew more and more coun- 
trylike. The road ran past wide farm-fields and 
comfortable homes with lazy cows standing in the 
barn-yards and busy hens scratching in the deserted 
gardens. Along the roadside, tall oak and chest- 
nut trees met in noble arches; all around was the 
faint rustle of dried leaves and the soft swaying 
of bending branches. 

“ How far is it to where we are going? ” asked 
Betty, impatiently, turning to Alice. 

“ It’s u half-mile from my house/’ answered 


90 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Alice, “ and we are almost to my house. It’s that 
little one with a lot of windows.” 

“ We have come more than a half mile,” said 
Miss Ruth, “ so it must be Betty’s turn to carry the 
straw bag.” 

Betty took the bag, and darted along the road, 
here and there, to the great risk of the lunch. 

They were soon in front of the small wooden 
house, well back from the road, and having a great 
many windows full of flowers. Ben, with his shirt- 
sleeves rolled up, was splitting kindling-wood at 
the side of the house. He came running down to 
meet them. 

“ Going to the Convalescing Home? Yes, I can 
go, too,” he said, pulling down his shirt-sleeves. 
“ I’ve done the errands, and was splitting kindlings 
just for fun.” 

“ Won’t you please come into my house, Miss 
Ruth?” asked Alice, shyly. “ Mamma said she 
wanted the Club to meet here sometime. She would 
like to see you now, I know.” 

“We will come, sometime, Alice; thank you,” 
replied Miss Ruth, “ but not to-day. We have to be 
back home before dark.” 

So Alice ran in to speak to her mother and to 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


91 


leave the dolls’ dresses, just as Ben came hurrying 
out, buttoning his tight little blue jacket. 

“ I might hitch up Jerry to the delivery wagon 
and take you that way,” suggested Ben. 

“ No, walking is more fun,” said Betty, who 
always knew exactly what she wanted to do. A 
moment later Alice ran toward them, waving good- 
bye to the young-looking woman who stood in the 
doorway. Betty flourished the lunch-bag wildly in 
the air, while Miss Ruth and Elsa waved friendly 
greetings and Ben shouted farewells. 

“ What a splendid place to live in, Alice, with 
the woods so near,” said Elsa. “ I love to walk 
in the woods and go hunting into bushes, and dis- 
cover things.” Elsa looked with eager eyes at 
the clumps of scrub-oak and low bushes ahead, be- 
yond the stone wall. 

“ There are snakes there sometimes, in warm 
weather,” said timid Alice. 

“ I’m not afraid of snakes,” Elsa said. 

“ I love ’em, — the cunning little ones,” cried 
Betty; which was true, for Betty loved almost 
everything that was alive. 

“ I will tell you a very short- story about a friend 
of mine,” said Miss Ruth. The children fell into 


92 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


line at once, Betty and Elsa on the right, Ben and 
Alice on the left. 

“ I was in a small country town one summer with 
this friend,” Miss Ruth began, “ and some one 
asked her to take a Sunday-school class of boys who 
were full of mischief and fun. For awhile, that 
first Sunday, everything went well; then, just as 
my friend was explaining the lesson to the boys at 
one side, she felt something drop into her lap, and 
turning, she saw a little green snake. Those boys 
looked at her, expecting at least that she would 
scream. The snake wriggled and tried to escape, 
but the boy who had brought him was too quick, 
and grasped the snake; and he was so surprised 
when the teacher said : ‘ That isn’t the way to hold 
him. Don’t you see you are making him uncom- 
fortable?’ So she took hold of him.” 

“ The boy or the snake ? ” asked Ben, quick as 
a flash. 

“ The snake,” said Miss Ruth, answering the 
laugh in Ben’s eyes. “ And she held him — the 
snake, I mean — for ten or fifteen minutes, talking 
about him until those boys thought she was the 
nicest teacher they had ever had.” 

“ Could you have done that, Miss Ruth ? ” asked 
Betty. 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


93 


But just then a large black and white hound 
bounded from the porch of a house they were pass- 
ing and ran with great leaps toward them, baying 
in a deep voice. 

“ Tinker! Tinker! ” called Ben, darting forward. 
Alice drew around to the other side of Miss Ruth, 
while Elsa and even Betty stepped a little behind. 

“Tinker!” exclaimed Ben again, in a steady 
tone. “ Come here ! Don’t you bark at my Black 
Lace Lady ! ” 

The great hound, on hearing Ben’s voice, had 
stopped short. Now, with eyes cast down, he 
walked meekly to Ben, who put out his hand and 
stroked the long, soft ears, saying : “ Bad old 

Tinker, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” 

As Alice had said, Ben was friends with all the 
dogs on the road. The hound, after walking a 
few steps with Ben’s hand on his head, turned and 
went toward his home. 

“ I wasn’t a bit afraid,” said Betty, coming for- 
ward again. 

Ben gave a low whistle to express his thoughts. 
The others were politely silent. 

“ What was it you called Miss Ruth, Ben ? ” 
Betty asked quickly. 

“ Black Lace Lady,” Ben answered, “ because 


94 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


she had on a black lace dress the first time I ever 
saw her, and it was pretty.” 

“ Ben always names people,” said Alice. “ He 
calls me Peggy most of the time.” 

“ What is your name for me, Ben ? ” asked Betty, 
dancing on ahead. 

“You?” Ben looked at her brown curls and 
bright eyes for a half moment and then said : “I 
am going to call you the Glad Girl.” 

“ That’s nice,” Betty said, with an extra swing 
of the lunch-bag. “ Mother calls me Sunshine 
sometimes — and sometimes the Tornado. What’s 
your name for Elsa ? ” 

Ben thought a moment : “I haven’t any name 
for Elsa yet : I am saving that up.” Then he gazed 
at Miss Ruth anxiously : “ Isn’t it Alice’s turn to 
carry that straw bag ? ” Alice had found time to 
explain to him about the lunch. “We can take 
shorter turns now, ’cause I can carry it, too.” 

So the bag was given into Alice’s keeping. 

“ Tell us about the place where we are going, 
Miss Ruth, please?” asked Elsa, who was enjoy- 
ing the woods walk so much that she had kept quiet 
most of the way. 

“ To begin with,” replied Miss Ruth, “ there is 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


95 


a large hospital in the city, especially for children; 
but large as it is, there are always more sick chil- 
dren to be taken into it than there is room for. 
When the children in the hospital are getting well, 
they are brought out here to the Convalescent Home 
where they can be cared for before going to their 
own homes, — which are sometimes very poor 
homes. And the life out here, with the sunshine 
and the fresh air and good care, makes the children 
ever and ever so much stronger. There are about 
seventy or eighty children here all the time.” 

“ Poor little children,” said Elsa. Betty was 
walking along quietly now, and Ben had taken 
Alice’s blue-mittened hand in his. 

“ Yes, poor little children,” Miss Ruth repeated. 
“ The happy part of it all is, though, that the chil- 
dren are growing stronger. But just think how 
they have to go without the playing and running 
about you all can have. Once a little girl, seven 
years old, whom I saw out here, and who couldn’t 
walk, said : ‘ I used to play when I was young.’ ” 

“ There’s the house now,” exclaimed Alice, as 
they came within sight of a large red-brick build- 
ing with many red chimneys, situated quite far back 
from the highway. 


96 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Just where the road turned toward the comfort- 
able-looking red house stood a tall, wooden sign 
with the words : 

CONVALESCENT HOME 
OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 
VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME 

“ Doesn’t that sound pleasant? ” said Betty, read- 
ing it aloud. “ It makes you feel as though they 
really want you to come.” 

Miss Ruth had been here many times before, so 
she sent a message to the head-nurse by the maid 
who opened the front door : “ Tell Miss Hartwell 
that we would like to see her when she is at liberty, 
and that I have taken my young friends out to the 
play-room. How many children have you here this 
week? ” 

“ About seventy-five, Miss Warren,” replied the 
maid, conducting the little party through the large, 
airy hall with its light yellow-green walls and dark 
wood finish, and along a wide passageway to the 
play-room. 

The three girls went on in silence, except that 
Elsa said to Miss Ruth : “ What a lovely, clean 
place it is ! ” 

Soon they found themselves in a large room — 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


97 


which seemed almost like outdoors, it was so light 
and pleasant — and in the midst of a great many 
children, most of whom were upon one crutch or 
two crutches, or had bandages upon their feet, 
arms, or even their whole bodies. 

“ There are over forty children here in the play- 
room, said the white-capped nurse who had stepped 
forward to answer Miss Ruth’s greeting. “ The 
stronger children have been out-of-doors in the 
fresh air ; — but see, they are coming in now,” she 
added. “ Miss Hartwell has them come in half an 
hour before their supper time.” 

Sliding glass doors led from the play-room upon 
a wide, unroofed piazza. And now, through the 
open doorway, a tall, slender woman led the long 
line of children, who limped or pushed themselves 
along on go-carts; only a few, even, of these 
stronger children could walk in the straight, free 
fashion in which ordinary boys and girls walk, 
when they have full use of their limbs. 

“How happy they all look,” said Elsa; and in- 
deed, the children’s faces, though in many cases thin 
and pathetic-looking, were sweet, patient and sun- 
shiny. 

“ They always look just the same, every time I 
come here,” Alice said; then she ran off to speak 


98 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


with a little girl whom she remembered. Ben was 
already in a corner, surrounded by a group of boys. 

While Miss Ruth went on talking with the head 
nurse, Betty and Elsa forgot their shyness, — 
which was easy, because the children came crowd- 
ing around them, with lively interest. To Betty, 
who was used to her own baby brother, the most 
natural thing to do seemed to be to sit down on the 
floor and play with the smallest ones. Elsa, heeding 
the “ Go walk ! Go walk ! ” of two little girls, wan- 
dered away with one holding fast to each hand. 
When the little girls grew tired, as they did quickly, 
Elsa came back to Miss Ruth’s side, with shining, 
eloquent gray eyes : “ They are so friendly, the dear 
little things,” she said to Miss Ruth, then walked 
slowly away, with two other girls, to a group of 
children who were strapped down to go-carts, and 
flat upon their backs. 

A mite of five years, with round blue eyes and a 
pale, patient face, held out both hands toward Elsa’s 
sunshiny yellow hair, saying “ Pitty, O, pitty ! ” 
Just beyond, a little boy was turning his head 
toward the window. “ What are you looking at ? ” 
Elsa asked, as she drew near. 

“ At the sky ; it’s nice up there,” the boy an- 
swered contentedly. 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


99 


By his side, on the next go-cart, a small girl was 
singing to herself a nursery-verse Elsa knew; so 
she stopped and joined in the singing: 

“ Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day, 

“ Come over the meadow with me and play ; 

Put on your dresses of red and gold. 

For winter is come and the days grow cold.” 

Elsa's baby companions, tired of walking, 
dropped down in little patient heaps upon the floor, 
saying in soft voices: “ Sing more! More song! ” 
“ Oh! " 

Miss Ruth turned at Elsa's exclamation and saw 
her kneeling by the side of a child of about seven 
years, who was hugging an old, battered china doll. 
The child was strapped to a frame which held her 
body straight, because her back was not like other 
children's. “ Let me hold your dolly a moment," 
Elsa was saying, although Ruth Warren could not 
hear the words. 

“No! No! Dirl take dolly 'way!" cried the 
little girl, who had a ruddy face and dark, sparkling 
eyes. 

Miss Ruth, still talking with the head-nurse, 
watched Elsa, unheeded by her. 

“ Where did you get the dolly ? " Elsa asked, 


100 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

longing to take her old doll into her arms, for she 
had instantly known her own Bettina. 

“ Lady dave her to me,” said the child. 

“ What is the dolly’s name ? ” asked Elsa. 

“ Dolly.” The child looked up solemnly. 

“ Don’t you want to have a name for her?” 
Elsa asked, after a half moment of waiting. 

“ Vhat ? ” asked the child, clasping her tiny 
hands the tighter around the doll. 

“ Name her Bettina,” said Elsa, softly. 

“ ’Tina,” repeated the little girl. “ Dat’s dood 
name. Dat’s nursey’s name.” 

“Where is nursey?” Elsa sprang up from her 
knees and looked around the room at the nurses. 
All the faces were strange to her. “ Where is 
she?” Elsa asked again, almost in tears. 

“ Don ’way,” said the wee little girl. And, leav- 
ing her staring with two very bright eyes at the doll, 
Elsa went back to Miss Ruth’s side and took hold 
of her hand tightly. 

“ You ought to be here some day when new chil- 
dren come,” said the head-nurse kindly, noticing 
Elsa’s sober face, “ and see how those who have 
been here longest crowd around and tell the new 
children about the nice things they do here. It 
makes the new children feel happy and at home. 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


101 


immediately, so that they are hardly ever homesick. 
Sometimes after the children are well, they don’t 
want to go home. One little girl used to run and 
hide every time we spoke of her going home.” 

“ I don’t wonder,” Elsa said quickly. “ It’s so 
pleasant here for them.” 

“ Would you like to see where almost all the 
children sleep ? ” asked the head-nurse, now that 
Elsa’s face had brightened. 

“ Yes, indeed,” Elsa said. Then Miss Ruth 
called the other members of the Club, and they fol- 
lowed Miss Hartwell into one after another of the 
three rooms, or “ shacks,” which reached out, like 
arms, from the play-room; and Miss Hartwell 
showed them how the windows and even the doors 
could be moved so as to let plenty of fresh air into 
the shacks; she said that the children never com- 
plained of feeling cold, for they were bundled up 
in flannel clothing and hoods at night. Some of the 
children limped along, following the visitors from 
one shack into the next, and listening, nodded their 
heads with great interest while Miss Hartwell made 
the explanation. 

“ You would enjoy coming here sometime on a 
kindergarten afternoon,” continued the head-nurse. 
“ We have kindergarten teaching three times a 


102 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


week — Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday after- 
noon — and no baby is too small and no child too 
helpless, to take some part, real or make-believe, in 
the pretty plays.” 

Immediately, one little boy, who had heard the 
word “ kindergarten ” held up a piece of card- 
board which had outlined upon it a yellow carrot 
with a bright green top. And they all praised it. 

“ Now I will show you the dining-room,” said 
Miss Hartwell, leading the way back through the 
long passage and the pleasant hall. And, then, if 
Elsa had dared, she would have questioned about 
the nurse named Bettina; but Elsa was a shy little 
girl, and before she found courage for the question, 
they were in the large, many-windowed dining- 
room with its tall, handsome plants and wide fire- 
place, and Miss Hartwell was showing them the 
pretty dishes with red, green, and blue figures, for 
the children’s use. The room was filled with low 
tables surrounded by low chairs, and on the tables 
were plates piled with buttered bread and crackers, 
while in front of each place was a large cupful of 
milk and a dish of apple-sauce. 

“ The children have supper very early on winter 
afternoons,” Miss Hartwell said. She had hardly 
spoken these words when the long procession of 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


103 


children began coming into the dining-room, — the 
stronger ones first, sometimes leading or helping the 
weaker ones, then those who could not walk, push- 
ing themselves along on their go-carts. Last of 
all came the nurses with the youngest and weakest 
children. 

The visitors drew somewhat to one side and 
watched the children as they took their places or 
were drawn up to the tables. 

At a signal from the head-nurse after each little 
white bib was tied into place, the children began 
singing in thin, sweet voices: 

“Thank Him, thank Him, 

All ye little children; 

Thank Him, thank Him, 

God is love.” 

Elsa’s and Betty’s eyes filled with tears; the 
children’s grace touched Alice’s and Ben’s hearts 
into tenderness, too, although the twins had heard 
it before; then they all dried their eyes, smiling 
through joyful tears, as the children began to eat 
their supper. 

“ Sometimes we have gingerbread for supper,” 
said a sweet- faced child who was lying on a go- 
cart near the visitors, and whom one of the nurses 
was feeding. 


104 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Turn aden,” cried the bright-eyed little girl 
who, as the visitors turned to go, was hugging an 
old china doll, and patiently waiting her turn to be 
fed. 

“ You cunning baby! ” said Elsa, stooping to kiss 
the battered doll, once her own. 

So half-laughing, half-crying, the children passed 
out, their hearts overflowing with a kind of painful 
pleasure. 

They kept unusually quiet for the first few mo- 
ments as they walked away. Elsa was the first one 
to speak. “ I want to come again,” she said in a 
wistful voice. It had been hard for her to leave her 
precious old doll behind; and besides, the children 
interested her greatly. 

“ So do I,” Betty joined in quickly. “ It makes 
me feel queer, but I like it.” 

“ I love to come,” said Alice. “ Sometimes we 
take things out to the children ; and you’d be 
s’prised the way they give up to each other. 
Mamma says they are the most unselfishest children 
she ever saw.” 

Ben was trotting along ahead, jumping every 
now and then into the air. Suddenly he stopped 
and said in a serious voice : “I am glad my two 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


105 


legs are whole ! My, — but it’s hard for those 
boys, though.” 

“ It’s just as hard for the girls,” exclaimed Betty. 

“ No, — because boys need to race around more 
than girls; it keeps them from exploding,” declared 
Ben, taking an extra high jump. 

“ I know a short way through the woods,” he 
added, stopping where a foot-path led from the left- 
hand side of the road. “ It comes out just beyond 
our house ; it’s pretty, too, and I can take you to a 
fine place to eat the lunch.” Ben was growing 
hungry. 

Miss Ruth had kept the lunch-bag, insisting that 
it was her turn to carry it now. They all agreed to 
follow Ben’s suggestion ; and indeed it was delight- 
ful to be walking along under broad-spreading trees 
through whose branches the late afternoon sunlight 
struck golden lances. There was an almost perfect 
stillness in the woods, except for the occasional call- 
ing of crows overhead among the tree-tops or the 
Jay! Jay! of that handsome robber, the blue-jay. 

“ How does the Convalescent Home have money 
enough to take care of all those children?” asked 
Elsa, sliding along, on the smooth carpet of pine- 
needles, toward Miss Ruth. 


106 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ The managers, the ladies who have charge of 
the Home, give money and their friends give 
money, to provide the clothing — shoes and stock- 
ings and nightgowns and little flannel dresses and 
everything, — besides paying the nurses’ wages and 
for the medicines. It takes a great deal of money; 
and ever so many more children could be brought 
here and cured if there were more money to pro- 
vide care and clothing for them.” 

“ Perhaps my grandmother will give something,” 
Elsa said hesitatingly. “ O, I know,” she added, 
her face brightening, “ Uncle Ned will help. I will 
ask him.” 

“ I am glad we are going to give the children 
some dolls; they didn’t have many,” said Betty, 
rustling on ahead through the piled-up dry leaves. 

“ We might earn some money — our Club, I 
mean,” suggested Alice. 

“ We will give them all the dolls and playthings 
we can for Christmas,” said Elsa, putting her arm 
around Alice ; “ then, when we start a new club, we 
can maybe have it an Easter Club, and see how 
much money we can earn for those poor little chil- 
dren.” 

“ Alice and I had our names printed in the Con- 
valescing Home report last year,” Ben called back 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


107 


over his shoulder; he was leading the way. “ It 
said this: 4 From Ben and Alice, a music-box; * we 
gave them one we had,” he explained. 

“ Will the dolls we give and the name of our 
Club be printed in the report, Miss Ruth?” asked 
Betty excitedly. 

“ Yes, that is the custom,” answered Miss Ruth. 

“ But then everybody would know the name,” 
objected Betty, walking slowly on. 

“ Never mind,” Alice said, putting her arm into 
Betty’s. “We can name the Club over again after 
Christmas.” 

“ And we wouldn’t want to call an Easter Club 
by the same name as a Christmas Club,” said Elsa. 

“What’s the name of the Club, anyway?” Ben 
turned to ask. He was marching on ahead, but not 
losing anything that was said. “ Alice told me I 
couldn’t know it till I belonged, but I belong now.” 

“ Yes, you belong now, after having this after- 
noon’s meeting with us,” said Miss Ruth. “ Tell 
him the name, Alice.” 

So Alice ran ahead, put her arm around Ben’s 
neck, and whispered the name into his ear, — al- 
though there was no need of secrecy, since they all 
were members. 

“ Christmas Makers’ Club ! ” Ben said critically. 


108 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ That sounds pretty important, as though you 
thought you were going to make Christmas.” 

“ But we are,” cried Elsa; “ we are going to help 
make it for the convalescent children.” 

“ And for ourselves, too,” put in Betty, who had 
many plans in her busy brain. 

“ Aren’t you going to help make it for anybody, 
Ben ? ” asked Miss Ruth. 

“ O, — yes,” replied Ben, with the air of one 
who did not tell all of his secrets. 

“ He can make the beauti fullest things,” said 
Alice, ever ready to praise her brother. 

“ I’ll make a few tops and some kites for those 
little chaps,” Ben said modestly, slowing his steps 
in order to walk with the others, for here the wood- 
path widened. “ I used to think I would be a car- 
penter when I grow up, but I’ve changed my mind.” 

“ What do you want to do, Ben ? ” asked Miss 
Ruth, looking at the lively- faced boy whose head 
came almost to her shoulder. 

Ben was a steady-minded, faithful lad, but he had 
a great imagination. “ I am going to do the way 
they do in fairy stories,” he said ; “ I am going to 
get an old witch to help, and go to an island where 
there is a hidden treasure and come back and spend 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


109 


it. And I shall have a pony and a guinea pig and 
a garden of my own, and then I shall make the King 
a great many presents, and marry the Princess and 
have plenty of people to amuse me and read to me, 
and I shall go to bed when I choose and eat all the 
candy I want and have turkey every day, and I 
shall conquer all the world, — all except the Amer- 
icans, — and my mother will be Queen — ” Here 
Ben stopped for want of breath rather than for want 
of imagination. 

“ That is enough to take away one’s breath, Ben,” 
remarked Miss Ruth. “ What do you want to be, 
Alice? You must all tell.” 

“ I want to be a nurse and take care of the con- 
valescent children,” Alice said shyly. 

“ You will be a princess if you are my sister,” 
exclaimed Ben. 

“What about you, Betty?” Miss Ruth asked 
next. 

“ Me! I want to be good and beautiful and sen- 
sible,” said Betty, very slowly, for her; “and, of 
course, I want a houseful of horses and a houseful 
of dogs.” 

“ And you, Elsa? ” 

Elsa was all ready for Miss Ruth’s question: 


110 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ I am going to be the mother of five children and 
make them very, very happy,” she said with a most 
radiant expression on her flower-like face. 

“ Let’s stop here and build a bower to 1 eat the 
lunch in,” exclaimed Betty, for all at once they came 
to a turn in the path and an open space, carpeted 
with soft, reddish-brown pine needles, and sur- 
rounded by tall, straight tree trunks. 

“ Walk on a minute more,” urged Ben; “ I know 
a lots better place.” 

Soon another turn in the path brought them 
within sight of a hut, which the dense trees had 
hidden, — a low, wooden cabin, built of logs with 
the bark left on. In front of the hut was a wooden 
platform with a long seat, and above the seat, one 
wide window of many small panes of glass. It was 
a place to attract and charm any child. 

With shouts of excitement, Betty, Elsa, and Alice, 
followed by Ben, leaped to the platform and the 
girls pressed their faces against the window, full 
of curiosity to see the inside of the hut. 

“ Nobody lives here,” explained Ben, turning to 
Miss Ruth, who was only a moment behind the oth- 
ers. “ Some boys’ father had the hut built for them 
two-three years ago, but they have grown up and 
got tired of it. They let me have the key,” he added. 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 111 

proudly taking it from his pocket and fitting it into 
the door. 

“ I have been here before with Ben, but not very 
often,” said Alice, standing aside with her brother 
to let the others go into the hut first. 

Inside, the delighted children saw a room about 
as large as a good-sized pantry, and in this room a 
round table, three stools, a chair, and a tiny, rather 
rusty stove ; opening from this room was a smaller 
one, with two cot-beds. The whole place was clean 
and in order, for Ben had taken great delight not 
only in having the key but in caring for the hut. 

There was a sweet, dry odour of pine- wood about 
the place, and the afternoon sun had made the large 
room quite warm. “ We must surely have our 
lunch here,” said Miss Ruth, “ though we must be 
quick about it, for the sunlight will soon be gone.” 

“ Just seats enough to go around,” said Ben; 
“ three stools for the girls, a chair for Miss Ruth — 
excuse me, Miss Ruth, I ought to have said you 
first, — and I’ll get the wooden box that I keep in 
the bushes for rubbish.” 

Miss Ruth quickly spread a white napkin over 
the little table and took out the lunch, — first a 
great many ginger cookies, and these were care- 
fully laid at one side; buttered thin biscuit next, 


112 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


three apiece, with slices of cold turkey laid in be- 
tween, and lastly, some nuts and raisins. 

Four pairs of hands reached out without delay, 
and in a surprisingly short time, sandwiches and 
cookies, nuts and raisins, every one of them, had 
vanished. And how good everything tasted, there 
in the snug, warm little hut, with the fragrant 
odour of the pines coming in through the open 
door. 

“ I wish, if we have the Easter Club, we could 
buy this hut and have our meetings here,” said 
Elsa. The longer she stayed in the hut, the better 
she liked it. 

“ It’s near my house,” Alice said ; “ you can see 
our chimneys from the door.” 

“ And we could furnish the hut with a lot of 
things, — dishes and pictures,” cried Betty. “ And 
we could use the little room for a storeroom ! ” 

Elsa had been thinking of other pleasures, so she 
said : “ We could stay here and enjoy the birds and 
the trees and the wild flowers, in the spring.” 

“ Do you think we could buy or hire the hut, 
Ben ? ” asked Miss Ruth ; for it certainly was a 
delightful place. 

“ Yes, I think maybe I could manage it for 
you,” replied Ben, carefully brushing all the crumbs 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 113 

of food into the wooden box on which he had sat 
during the lunch. 

“ O, I just saw the cunningest gray squirrel !” 
exclaimed Elsa, running to the doorway, hoping 
for another glimpse of the little creature. 

“ You can see plenty of gray squirrels and chip- 
munks round here, ’most any time,” said Ben, fol- 
lowing her. “ And a man told me that last year a 
pair of screech-owls built their nest and raised their 
family in that old hollow tree there.” 

Elsa listened with closest attention. 

“ This is a fine place to get acquainted with birds 
and animals,” Ben said, encouragingly. “ But you 
never can get acquainted with them till you learn 
to be quiet, like them, and to walk through the 
woods without making twigs snap every step you 
take.” 

Ben put the box of crumbs among the alder 
bushes at the side of the hut. “ Mr. Gray Squirrel 
and his family will have those crumbs almost be- 
fore we are out of sight,” he said. 

“ We must start for home,” called Miss Ruth, 
coming out from the hut with Alice and Betty. 

While Ben locked the door, the others stood for 
a moment watching the brilliant red sunset light in 
the western sky. The deep baying of a hound 


114 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


sounded through the quiet woods. Alice drew a 
little nearer to Ben. 

“ You are all safe, Peggy,” he said, patting her 
hand, his thoughts busy with other things. “ If I 
were a bird way up in the top boughs of those tall 
trees, you would look like grasshoppers down 
here,” he said, with his face turned to the sky. 

“ And you would look like the teentiest, tontiest 
little bird,” replied Betty quickly. 

“ I should hear what the wind was saying, ’way 
up there,” Ben went on ; “ we can’t hear such things 
down on the ground, ’cause people make so much 
noise talking. You have to keep still to learn 
things,” added Ben with a wise air and a serious 
face. Then he led the way along the path again, 
singing to himself softly, in a musical voice : 

“There was an old man of Dumbree, 

Who taught little owls to drink tea; 

For he said, ‘ To eat mice is not proper or nice,* 
That amiable man of Dumbree.” 

Soon the very tall trees grew fewer in number 
and the woods more open; and the path now ran 
between old stumps, tufts of blueberry bushes, 
clumps of alders, and wisps of coarse yellow-brown 
grass, left un weakened by the frost. A few mo- 
ments later, they came out upon Berkeley Avenue, 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


115 


at a point where Ben and Alice would have to turn 
back toward their home. 

“ Thank you, very much, Ben, for bringing us 
through such an interesting, pleasant way,” said 
Miss Ruth; “ and we shall all remember the hut.” 

“ And the convalescent children,” cried Elsa. 

“ And the Easter Club we are going to have,” 
put in Betty. “ Don’t you tell the name of our 
Club, Ben!” 

“No, no, no!” Ben called back, — as if a boy 
ever did tell secrets. 

“ Mamma wants the Club to meet at our house 
sometime soon,” Alice said in farewell, as she and 
Ben trotted off together. 

Ben waved his scrap of a blue cap as he cried: 
“ Good-bye, good-bye, Black Lace Lady ! Good- 
bye, Glad Girl ! Good-bye, Elsa ! ” 

“ Have you thought of a name for Elsa yet ? ” 
called out Betty, waving the now empty lunch-bag 
over her head frantically. 

“ That’s telling ! ” Ben answered teasingly. He 
had thought, but he was going to keep it to him- 
self for awhile. 

Miss Ruth, Betty, and Elsa, had not gone far 
on their homeward way when Mrs. Dan forth over- 
took them, in a closed coupe with a driver in livery, 


116 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


who stopped the gray horse beside the group in the 
road. Mrs. Danforth had very often, lately, driven 
out on Berkeley Avenue, and several times in pass- 
ing the Holts’ house she had seen a stooping- 
shouldered man, whom she supposed to be Mr. 
Holt, going to or coming from the long shed, the 
place where, probably, she thought, the market 
garden supplies were kept. The garden window 
frames showed just behind the house. 

“ Where are the others of your Club ? ” she 
asked, as she let down the coupe window. She 
had expected to meet all of the Club together. 

“ O, we came back through the woods, grand- 
mother,” explained Elsa ; “ you must have met Ben 
and Alice just now.” 

Then Mrs. Danforth remembered that she had 
met a boy and a girl only a short distance back, 
but she had not noticed them especially. 

“ I can take one of you home with me,” she 
said, looking from Miss Ruth to Elsa and then to 
Betty, and pulling her handsome sable furs closer 
up around her neck as the cool air came into the 
coupe. 

“ Thank you, Mrs. Danforth, but I enjoy walk- 
ing,” replied Ruth Warren, who was entirely will- 
ing to give up the drive to one of the children. 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


117 


Elsa’s face looked as if she also would rather 
walk; but Betty’s brown eyes were dancing with 
anticipation. She loved horses heartily, and next 
to going over the Dan forth house she had wanted 
to ride behind that splendid gray steed. So she 
said, when Mrs. Danforth’s eyes rested upon her: 
“ I should just love to ride with you,” and accord- 
ingly, Elsa’s grandmother drove off with Betty 
behind the spirited horse. 

“ Did you know I found a little girl out at the 
Convalescent Home who — who had Bettina ? ” 
Elsa said to Miss Ruth, as they walked along to- 
gether over the hard, frozen road. 

“ Was it the little girl with the bright dark eyes, 
whom I saw you with ? ” 

“ Yes, that’s the one. Did you hear what she 
said ? ” Elsa asked. 

“ I didn’t hear what either you or the little girl 
said, because I was talking with Miss Hartwell; 
but I saw that you were greatly interested about 
something: and it was your own doll Bettina. 
Were you glad ? ” 

“ It — it was exciting to — to see Bettina,” Elsa 
said, swallowing a lump in her throat, “ and then 
when — when I asked the little girl to — let me 


118 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

name the doll — I wanted her to be called Bettina 
— the little girl said that her nurse’s name was 
Bettina, but she had gone away. Do you suppose 
it could be my old Bettina, — Bettina March ? ” 
Elsa asked, looking anxiously into Miss Ruth’s 
face, half in hope, half in uncertainty. 

“ You did not think to inquire of Miss Hart- 
well ? ” questioned Miss Ruth. 

“I — I thought, but I didn’t quite dare to,” Elsa 
replied desolately. 

“ Don’t think too much about the matter, Elsa, 
because it might be Bettina Smith or Bettina any- 
body ; but I will find out for you,” said Miss Ruth, 
thinking how plucky Elsa had been about the doll. 

“ O, thank you, Miss Ruth,” Elsa said very 
gratefully and in a much relieved tone. 

“ Doesn’t your old nurse write to you? ” 

“ No,” Elsa answered slowly. “ Grandmother 
said it was better for me to learn to get along with- 
out Bettina — so — so I suppose that’s the reason 
she doesn’t write to me.” 

Ruth Warren did not ask any further questions. 
But she felt that she knew better than ever why 
Elsa was such a pale-faced child and why there was 
so often a shadow of something sad in her eyes. 

“ Do you think I ought to tell grandmother about 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


119 


— about my going over to your house the other 
night ? ” Elsa asked suddenly, as the question came 
into her mind for almost the hundredth time. 

“ Might not your grandmother’s feelings be hurt 
because you went to somebody else instead of going 
to her, with your — your trouble ? ” 

“ Perhaps/’ Elsa answered, in a doubtful tone, 
though. 

“If she were to ask you about it, you would 
of course tell her. But when telling a thing un- 
necessarily means the possibility of hurting some- 
body’s feelings, then even little girls can help make 
the world happier by keeping things to themselves. 
Are you willing, Elsa, to have me tell your grand- 
mother, or anybody else, if ever the time comes 
when it seems best ? ” 

“ Yes, Miss Ruth,” cried Elsa, feeling as if a 
great weight had rolled from her heart. “Of 
course grandmother didn’t know how much I loved 
that doll. She didn’t even know I had her.” 

After this talk, Elsa felt that she and Miss Ruth 
were to be good friends for always. 

Betty White spent the first few moments of the 
drive in watching the strong, easy pulling of the 
gray horse. Then she turned to Mrs. Danforth 


120 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


with a question which greatly interested her and 
which she thought there could never be a better 
time to ask. 

Now Betty was the frankest of little girls; so 
she spoke out very bluntly : “ Why do you make 
Elsa mind so — so hard ? ” 

Mrs. Danforth, being greatly amazed, was sur- 
prised into saying “ What? ” 

“ Why don’t you let Elsa decide things some- 
times for herself?” Betty’s brown eyes met the 
surprised look in Mrs Dan f orth’s blue eyes very 
fearlessly. “ Mother lets me decide things — she 
says it is good for me to have re-responsibleness.” 
Betty stumbled a little over the long word, but she 
kept on : “ So if mother tells me I better come 
home from anywhere about five o’clock, and if I 
want to stay a little longer, and they want me to, 
I just stay, and then I tell her afterward, and if she 
doesn’t like it, we talk it over.” 

Betty leaned back against the soft cushions in 
comfort. This matter was off her mind ! 

Mrs. Danforth did not give any reply. 

“I — I think the other way makes children 
afraid of you,” Betty added bravely. 

Still Mrs. Danforth kept her eyes straight ahead, 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


121 


upon the coachman’s broad shoulders. Presently 
she asked: “Was that the Holt children’s father 
in front of their house, Elizabeth?” 

“We didn’t come back past the Holts’ house,” 
Betty replied, “ but that couldn’t have been Alice’s 
and Ben’s father. It must have been the hired 
man. Mr. Holt is a teacher, and he is way out in 
the West somewhere, because he isn’t very well. 
They miss him dreadfully.” 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mrs. Danforth. And 
Betty felt like a naughty child, though she could 
not have told why. 

Betty’s mother was just turning toward her 
home, when Mrs. Danforth’s coupe stopped, and 
Betty flew out like a small whirlwind. 

Mrs. Danforth lowered the coupe window and 
leaning forward, said : “ Mrs. White, I wish my 
little 'Elsa were as rosy and strong as your Eliza- 
beth.” She always spoke Betty’s full name, — 
Elizabeth. 

Mrs. White noticed the unusually gentle expres- 
sion upon the proud face. She had wanted a good 
opportunity to speak to Mrs. Danforth about Elsa; 
so, with the same frankness which Betty had 
shown, she said : “ There is no use in trying to 


122 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

bring children up without love, Mrs. Dan forth. 
You cannot make strong, happy, useful men and 
women without it.” 

Mrs, Danforth did not seem offended; though 
her eyes gleamed proudly from under her heavy 
brows, and a slight colour rose on her cheeks. Her 
voice was rather hoarse as she said to Mrs. White, 
with a cold smile : “ Your daughter Elizabeth is 
very much like you.” Then she bowed good-bye, 
and ordered the coachman to drive on. 

“ You forgot to thank Mrs. Danforth for the 
drive, Betty,” said Mrs. White, as they walked up 
the steps together. 

“ So I did, mother. That is too bad,” Betty an- 
swered, penitently, slipping her hand into her moth- 
er’s arm. “ But Mrs. Danforth kind of stiffens me 
up and makes me forget things. Aren’t grand- 
mothers ever as nice as mothers? I don’t know, 
because I haven’t any grandmothers.” 

“ Yes, Betty, they are often better, or at least 
children think so. But there are a great many dif- 
ferent kinds of mothers and grandmothers.” 

“ I know I’ve got the best kind of mother!” 
exclaimed Betty joyfully. 

That evening, after Elsa had shaken hands, said 
good night, and gone up to her white room, Mrs. 


WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 


123 


Dan.forth, alone in her luxurious library, sat quiet 
for a long time, thinking deeply about many things, 
especially about the real purpose which had brought 
her to live in Berkeley. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 

By sports like these are all their cares beguiled. 

— Oliver Goldsmith . 

DON’T know but I shall have to ask 
you not to let the children come to their 
Club this afternoon. I don’t like the 
noise, and you know almost anything 
brings on heart trouble,” Miss Virginia War- 
ren said, when she came down to the library 
the next Friday morning, followed by her niece, 
carrying two shawls. She spent an hour down- 
stairs daily, after the rooms had been made exces- 
sively warm. 

“ But, Aunt Virginia, you always stay in your 
room after three o’clock, and it is so far from the 
library that you could hardly hear any noise. I 
will keep the doors shut, though. I should be sorry 
indeed to disappoint the children,” Ruth Warren 
replied, quite troubled by her aunt’s words. 

“ Well, of course the children are of more im- 
portance than my feelings,” said Miss Virginia with 
124 



THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


125 


a sigh. “ But even though I don’t hear their noise, 
knowing they are there, and that I may hear them 
any minute, gives me cold turns every now and 
then.” She shivered, as if at the mere thought. 
“ Put that thick shawl over me quickly, Ruth.” 

The doctor had many times told Ruth Warren 
that there was nothing really the matter with her 
aunt except a strong imagination and a constant 
fear of illness; he had advised her, too, not to 
give in too much to her aunt’s notions. So now 
Ruth said : “ I am sorry, Aunt Virginia, that the 
children’s coming disturbs you. I will ask Sarah 
to stay in the room with you this afternoon so that 
you will not feel nervous.” 

“ Nervous! I am never nervous,” replied Miss 
Virginia, waving her large white hands excitedly. 
“ But I shall have to have a regular nurse, so that 
there will be somebody with me all the time.” 
Then she wept a little, and felt faint, and had to 
be revived with spirits of ammonia. 

Fortunately, however, she was spared further 
excitement on account of the children’s coming that 
day. For just before three o’clock, Ben Holt drove 
up to the house with a large, loose- jointed brown 
horse and a double-seated sleigh, jumped out, rang 
the door-bell, and asked for Miss Ruth. He was 


126 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


sitting on a tall carved chair in the hall when Ruth 
Warren came down, at Sarah’s summons. 

“ I stayed at home from school this afternoon,” 
said Ben, springing to his feet and looking as if 
his sturdy body would burst out from the tight 
little blue jacket. “ Alice has hurt her ankle, and 
she wants the Club to meet at our house, and so 
does my mother, and will you come? I’ve brought 
Jerry and the double-seated sleigh. See?” And 
Ben drew aside the lace curtain of the hall window 
to display his steed and chariot. 

“ Yes, I will go with pleasure,” Ruth Warren 
answered, after one swift, amused glance at the 
big-boned horse and the sleigh. 

“ Then I’ll just wait here till the other children 
come, if you please,” Ben said, unbuttoning his 
jacket and drawing a long breath. 

“Will your horse stand?” asked Ruth Warren, 
wondering if Ben meant to include her as one of 
the children. 

“ O, yes, he’s glad enough to have a chance to 
stand,” the boy said with a twinkle of humour. 

Ruth Waren went up-stairs to tell her aunt of 
the change of plan. 

“ You are not going off with a crowd of children 
in that old sleigh, Ruth, are you? Some of your 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


127 


friends will be sure to see you,” objected Miss Vir- 
ginia, in great and sudden distress. 

“ Only three children, Aunt Virginia; and what 
if my friends do see me? ” 

“ But it looks so queer — the sleigh, I mean, — 
like a country grocery sled, with an extra seat put 
in.” Miss Virginia grew quite excited. 

“ I believe it is called a pung,” said Ruth ; “ never 
mind, Aunt Virginia, nobody whom I care for will 
like me any the less for going in it. Good-bye, — 
there come Betty and Elsa now, and you can watch 
us start,” she added, for her aunt’s chair was al- 
ways drawn close to the front window. “ You will 
have a quiet house all to yourself this after- 
noon.” 

“ It will be too quiet, I am afraid,” sighed Miss 
Virginia. “ I do like to hear a little something 
going on, here all alone as I am, though not chil- 
dren’s voices.” 

Miss Virginia Warren did not mean to be selfish, 
but she had never learned that there is something 
sweeter in life than taking anxious care of one’s 
health and thinking about one’s self. 

Ben had seen Betty and Elsa on their way home 
from school and told them; so they were there all 


128 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


ready to start when Miss Ruth came down-stairs 
in her long, black, fur-lined coat. 

Mrs. Danforth had surprised Elsa that noon by 
saying: “ Elsa, when you are with your little Club, 
and all of you want to do anything together, like 
going to the Convalescent Home, you may do it 
without coming to ask me; and you may stay a 
little later than five o’clock if coming away earlier 
would spoil your good time.” Elsa felt very 
grown-up, with this new freedom, and yet the first 
use she made of it was to run home to tell her 
grandmother that the Club was to meet at Alice’s! 
It happened, however, that Mrs. Danforth was out 
driving; and then Elsa felt more than ever grate- 
ful to her grandmother, because, as she explained 
to Miss Ruth, “ If grandmother hadn’t said I could 
do anything the Club wanted to, I couldn’t have 
gone to Alice’s, because grandmother wasn’t at 
home to ask.” 

Betty listened intently, but wisely kept still. She 
was dancing around in great impatience for the 
start; she had on a long gray fur boa of her 
mother’s, and as there had been no one to remind 
Elsa to wear something extra warm, Miss Ruth 
bundled her into the dark red golf cape. 

Soon the little party set forth, — to Miss Vir- 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 129 

ginia’s horror, though she waved her hand feebly 
in return to the merry farewells from Miss Ruth 
and Elsa on the back seat of the pung, and from 
Betty perched up beside the blue-coated driver of 
the loose- jointed horse. 

Ben began clucking his steed into a faster gait. 

“ What a good, steady horse you have, Ben,” 
said Miss Ruth; and indeed the horse was pulling 
well on the road toward home. 

“ It’s a good thing to have a horse that will stand 
and that people aren’t afraid of,” Ben said loyally. 
“ I can do anything with this horse. G’long, 
Jerry!” 

The old horse, as if to justify the praise, went 
briskly. The sleighing was smooth, for there had 
been two or three snow-storms the past week. It 
was a rather sharp and wintry afternoon, cloudy, 
with every once in awhile a flurry of snow in large, 
star-shaped flakes. 

“ See how well Nature has tucked her children 
in, since we walked out here a week ago,” said Miss 
Ruth, as the sleigh, with merrily jingling bells, slid 
along the quieter part of Berkeley Avenue, where 
now masses of soft snow lined the road-side. “ And 
there will soon, be a thicker blanket put on, to keep 
them warm and safe until spring.” 


130 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Think of the hut, all covered with snow,” Elsa 
said. “ How pretty it must look.” 

“ Wouldn’t it be fun if we could sleigh-ride over 
to the Convalescent Home and see the children 
again,” exclaimed Betty, remembering the last 
Friday afternoon and their visit. 

“ But what about Alice waiting at home for 
us ? ” Miss Ruth asked quickly. 

“ O, I forgot,” Betty cried. 

“ I expect she’s wondering where we are,” ex- 
claimed Ben. “ G’long, Jerry!” 

But Jerry did not need urging now, for a mo- 
ment later Ben turned into the driveway which led 
to the rambling house with a piazza in front, out 
upon which looked many long, narrow windows, 
filled with bright-flowering plants, chiefly scarlet 
geraniums, — a cozy, cheerful home indeed. 

Mrs. Holt was already at the front door, — a 
young woman in a plain dark blue dress with dainty 
lace collar and cuffs, and so slender and graceful 
that she looked more like an older sister of Ben’s 
than his mother. Quite a warm colour bloomed 
on her pretty face as she shook hands with Miss 
Ruth, whom Ben introduced by saying “ This is 
the Black Lace Lady.” 

“ I am very happy to meet you, Miss Warren. 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


131 


Betty White I already know. And this is Elsa Dan- 
forth? Come in, please. Alice has been growing 
very impatient for your arrival,” Mrs. Holt said, 
with a gentle and well-bred hospitality. 

The front door opened directly into a quite large 
hall, evidently the living-room. There was a glow- 
ing fire in the old-fashioned fireplace opposite the 
door, a low bookcase on one side of the fireplace 
and a piano on the other; the stairs were at one 
end of the room, and folding-doors opened into 
the dining-room at the opposite end. On a chintz- 
covered lounge close to the front windows sat Alice 
in a blue wrapper the colour of her eyes, and with 
one foot stretched out, covered with an afghan. 
Her face flushed with pleasure : “ O, I am so glad 
you all came,” she said, as they drew around her. 
“ I fell on some ice, coming home from school yes- 
terday, and twisted my ankle a little, the doctor 
said, so I couldn’t come to the Club, and so we in- 
vited you here. What shall we do?” she asked, 
leaning back against the gay chintz pillows and 
looking like a large, sweet-faced doll with softly 
dimpled cheeks. 

“ I brought some of the dolls’ dresses — there 
are yet eight more to make,” Miss Ruth said, ta- 
king a package from the deep pocket of her fur- 


132 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


lined coat. “ We can sew on those for one thing 
to do.” 

“ I have made my last week’s two dresses,” cried 
Alice, pulling them in very rumpled condition from 
under a sofa pillow, while Elsa and Betty dived 
into their coat pockets, each bringing out two 
dresses, all finished. 

“ Good ! ” said Miss Ruth, taking off her coat 
and hat, at Mrs. Holt’s bidding. “ Perhaps we can 
each do two to-day — though these are for the 
largest dolls.” 

“ I will gladly help you sew,” Mrs. Holt said. 
“ Alice has told me that the dolls are to be given 
away at Christmas: that is all I know about it,” 
she added, smiling in a motherly, understanding 
way. She had a pretty, rather sad face and a very 
tender look in her blue eyes. It was a great grief 
to her to be parted from her husband, and there 
was another grief which lay further back in her 
heart. 

Even in the few moments of their talking to- 
gether, Ruth Warren had decided that Mrs. Holt 
was a very charming woman, and just the kind of 
a mother Ben and Alice might be expected to have. 

Elsa and Betty had drawn their chairs very near 
to Alice and were telling her all that had happened 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 133 

in school that morning, when Ben came in from 
having put the horse into the barn, and walked up 
to his mother's side with “ What shall we do ? ” 

“ O, I know what to do," he exclaimed, answer- 
ing his own question. “ We will have a show." 

“ Goody ! " cried Betty, hearing his last words. 

Mrs. Holt entered at once into the plan. “ Miss 
Warren and Alice and I will be audience. You can 
manage your show with Betty and Elsa to help, I 
think." 

“ But what about the dolls' dresses ? " Elsa asked, 
eager as she was for the “ show." 

“ Bless the dear child ! " said Mrs. Holt, putting 
her arm around the slight, black-gowned figure. 
“ Miss Warren and I will sew fast enough to do 
your share and Betty’s." She gazed intently into 
Elsa’s face as if she would like to question the child 
about something. 

“ O, thank you," Elsa said, gratefully. “ Why, 
that picture is just like one my grandmother has in 
her room," she exclaimed, catching sight of an oil- 
painting of a large, gable-windowed house. 

As Ruth Warren saw Mrs. Holt's face grow 
crimson and then suddenly very pale, some faint, 
puzzling resemblance flashed through her mind 
and was gone as quickly. 


134 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Before Mrs. Holt had any time to answer, Ben 
ran toward her and laid his hand coaxingly upon 
her shoulder : “ Now, mother of mine, I have 
brought the 4 show ’ things down from the garret, 
and the pink gauze curtain; and please can we use 
the red light ? ” 

“ Yes, my boy. What shows are you going to 
have? ,, Mrs. Holt’s voice was not quite steady, 
but she had regained her composure. 

“ You will see in just a little while, mother of 
mine,” said Ben, with the air of one who speaks 
to an over-eager child. 

Then, while Mrs. Holt explained to Miss Ruth 
and Elsa that the pink cheese-cloth curtain was 
used to make the show-figures look more beautiful, 
and that the red light, which made them even more 
beautiful, was brought out only on great occasions 
like birthdays or holidays, Elsa forgot all about 
the oil-painting; and very soon after, Ben called 
her to join Betty and him in the parlour, which 
opened off the hall, at the foot of the stairs. “ Turn 
your backs, please,” cried Ben; “ you mustn’t see 
what is going to happen.” 

“ Ben is such a manly little fellow,” said Miss 
Ruth, rising to change her position. 

Quick tears sprang into Mrs. Holt’s blue eyes. 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 135 

“ He tries to take care of me/’ she replied, with 
a little tremble in her voice ; “ my dear little boy,” 
she added, half under her breath. “ He is a great 
help in the gardening we do, winter and summer, 
although I have a good man to take the principal 
care. But I am sorry to have the children away 
from their father. We hope it will not be very 
long before he can come back to us, or we go to 
him.” 

“ Mr. Holt is a teacher, I believe,” said Ruth 
Warren, who found herself growing much inter- 
ested in the Holt family. 

“ Yes, out in Colorado; he had to go there for 
his health, and that is why we are here,” was the 
reply, given with quiet dignity. 

Ruth Warren liked Mrs. Holt all the better be- 
cause she did not attempt to make any apology for 
keeping a market-garden, or to explain their pov- 
erty, which was evident from the shabby furniture 
and plain clothing. 

“ I wish they would begin,” sighed Alice, who 
was feeling rather left out of things and who had 
all this time kept her eyes turned away from the 
stairs, where mysterious preparations were going 
on,. 

“ You may turn ’round now,” called out Ben, 


136 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


starting the red light. So the audience faced ex- 
pectantly toward the stage which was formed by 
the wide landing four steps up the stairway. 

Ben, jerking back the pink curtain, announced 
in a deep, dramatic tone : “ Priscilla, the Puritan 
Maiden.” 

Beside a real spinning-wheel sat Elsa with a 
white cap over her golden hair and a white kerchief 
across her shoulders, — a demure little Puritan 
maiden, her face very rosy under the red light. 

The applause from the audience was hearty and 
prolonged. Alice clapped louder than any one else. 
But after the curtain was drawn forward, she 
slipped her hand into her mother’s and said wist- 
fully, “ I do wish my foot was well so I could be 
in the shows.” 

“ Think of the little Convalescent children, my 
darling,” said Mrs. Holt in a low tone, replacing 
the afghan which Alice had restlessly pushed away. 
“ Think how some of them keep still all the time.” 

A moment later Alice’s face dimpled with smiles 
as Ben drew aside the curtain and said in his stage 
voice : “ Little Red Riding-hood.” 

It was Betty in a short red cape and a tightly 
drawn red hood. With the red light falling upon 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 137 

her round cheeks and her laughing eyes, she looked 
indeed like a little maid from the fields. 

“ Doesn’t the Glad Girl make a splendid Red 
Riding-hood?” cried Ben, turning a somersault on 
the hearth-rug. “ And wouldn’t the wolf have a 
fine time eating her up ! ” he added, capering back 
to draw the curtain. 

Red Riding-hood herself announced the next 
show, “ George Washington,” who was no other 
than Ben, standing on a large book covered with 
white cloth to represent a block of ice, and wearing 
a cock-hat and an old military coat which came 
down to his heels — a brave-faced Father of his 
Country. 

“ You forgot to say 4 Crossing the Delaware/ 
Betty,” exclaimed the show-figure, leaning forward 
on his very thick sword made out of the fire-tongs 
covered with brown paper. 

“ Of course they would know that,” Betty re- 
plied; and the audience agreed that they would 
have known it without being told. 

“ Just one more,” cried Ben, stepping from off 
the block of ice to help Betty draw the curtain. 
“ This one’s going to take a very long time to get 
ready, and you must guess the name of it. May 
I whisper to the Black Lace Lady, mother? ” 


138 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Mrs. Holt nodded permission, and Ben whis- 
pered something into Miss Ruth’s ear, to which she 
must have agreed, for he carried her heavy coat 
into the parlour, where Betty and Elsa were, and 
shut the door. 

It took so long for them to arrange this last show 
that Mrs. Holt and Miss Ruth finished making the 
first of the dolls’ dresses, and Mrs. Holt was sew- 
ing upon the second one for Alice, when Betty 
called “ Ready ! ” and pulled back the curtain to 
disclose a marvellous sight. 

There stood Elsa, behind a wall of sofa pillows, 
her hair floating down over the light blue silk scarf 
which covered her shoulders and her slender figure 
draped in a dark blue velvet table-cover, while on 
her shoulder perched a stuffed gray squirrel. On 
the step below the pillow-wall knelt Ben, wearing 
Miss Ruth’s long coat with the gray fur lining side 
out, his head and arms covered with Betty’s gray 
boa. This strange-looking figure was pulling with 
his teeth at a sofa pillow in the supposed wall, and 
repeating, in a muffled voice : “ Keep a good heart ! 
Keep a good heart! ” 

“ Princess Katrina and the Gray Owl ! ” Alice 
cried out, the moment her eyes fell upon this group. 
“ How lovely, how lovely ! ” she said over and over 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


139 


again, clapping her hands. Mrs. Holt and Ruth 
Warren joined in the applause, laughing until the 
tears came into their eyes, for Ben was such a 
ridiculously funny figure, although so well made 
up. 

Elsa kept still as long as she could; then the 
stuffed gray squirrel fell from her shoulder, and 
Ben, springing to catch it, knocked down the wall 
of pillows, and the show was over. 

“ How did you ever happen to think of it?” 
Alice asked, when the flushed and happy actors 
stood around the lounge, taking off their costumes. 

“ Elsa thought of it,” cried Betty, who was 
holding the stuffed squirrel tenderly. 

“ Betty made me take the princess part, though 
I wanted her to,” said Elsa. 

“ Because she has yellow hair, like the princess,” 
put in Ben. “ Betty dressed us, and didn't she do 
well? Your coat was just the thing,” he added, 
turning as Miss Ruth rose to help him out of it. 
“My! it's hot.” 

“ Did you know what it was, Mrs. Holt ? ” Elsa 
inquired, coming to Mrs. Holt's side. 

“ Yes, dear, for Alice has told the story to Ben 
and me, twice.” 


140 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Do your children tell you stories? ” Elsa asked, 
with wide-open, surprised eyes. 

“ Sometimes, Elsa,” Mrs. Holt replied. “ I sit 
by the fire the last part of the afternoon, usually, 
and the children lie on pillows in front of the fire; 
and if I am too tired to tell them a story, they tell 
me one.” 

“ And do they have shows often?” Elsa ques- 
tioned eagerly. This was almost like a story-book, 
this account of the happy home-life. 

“Yes; they keep a boxful of costumes and that 
pink curtain on purpose for shows. They get up all 
sorts of plays, too,” Mrs. Holt went on to say, see- 
ing the keen interest in Elsa’s face. “ Last summer 
they played snake until it got on my imagination 
so that I hardly dared step on the floor for fear of 
putting my foot on that snake.” 

“ It wasn’t really a snake, though,” said Betty, 
who had turned to listen. 

“ No, only a make-believe one,” Mrs. Holt re- 
plied laughingly ; “ but they made it seem real.” 

“ But, mother of mine,” said Ben very earnestly, 
“ you know I only got Peggy to play that so as to 
teach her not to be afraid of snakes.” 

“ Girls! ” exclaimed Ruth Warren,, “ it is quarter 
of five o’clock, and snowing fast. We must begin 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


141 


to get ready to go home.” She realized that it 
would take considerable time. 

“ Mamma, dear, I wish Elsa and Betty could 
stay here all night,” cried Alice. Betty had stayed 
before, once. 

“ They could perfectly well, Alice,” replied Mrs. 
Holt cordially, “ if Elsa’s grandmother and Betty’s 
mother were willing.” 

“ Let’s telephone and ask,” suggested Ben. 

“ I think my mother will let me stay,” Betty said 
quickly, standing on tip-toe in her excitement, “ be- 
cause it’s Friday and no school to-morrow. May I 
telephone now ? ” 

In a few moments Betty came back from the 
side-hall : “Yes, mother says I can stay, if Mrs. 
Holt is sure I won’t be a bother. Aren’t you going 
to telephone about staying ? ” she asked, turning 
to Elsa, who had been silent all this time, although 
her eyes showed how much she wanted to stay. 

“I — I don’t believe grandmother would let 
me,” Elsa replied, making a brave effort to keep 
a steady face. 

“ Why don’t you ask her for Elsa, mamma ? ” 
inquired Alice. “ Do, mother of mine,” urged 
Ben. 

Mrs. Holt’s face flushed, then grew pale, and a 


142 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


look of pride came over it. “ I cannot do that, 
children, much as I would like to have Elsa re- 
main.” 

“ I will ask Mrs. Danforth,” Ruth Warren said 
quickly, going to the telephone. Presently she 
returned to the impatient group and said in a cheer- 
ful tone: 

“ Elsa’s grandmother wants her to come home. 
She asks me to say to you, Elsa, that you will not 
be sorry you came.” 

But even this last part of the message could not 
keep Elsa from turning quickly away, toward the 
window, to hide her feelings. 

“ I will go and harness Jerry,” said Ben, hurry- 
ing out of the room. The others talked very fast 
for a few moments. 

“ I wish you could stay all night, Miss Ruth,” 
Alice said more hospitably than thoughtfully, when 
Miss Ruth was putting on her coat. 

“ There is no use in my thinking of it,” Miss 
Ruth answered quickly : “ my Aunt Virginia would 
never give her consent.” 

It was so funny to think of grown-up Miss Ruth 
having to mind that Elsa, feeling comforted, came 
away from the window and began to get ready for 
the drive home. 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


143 


“ I hope Alice’s ankle will be well before the 
next meeting,” said Miss Ruth, when they were 
at last ready to start. 

“ It will be quite well in a week, unless she is 
careless, or takes cold,” Mrs. Holt replied. “ I am 
sure she is most grateful to the Club, as I am, for 
your coming here.” 

Ben, who had driven Jerry up to the front door 
and come in to warm his hands, carelessly picked 
up a sofa pillow in passing, and shied it at Alice. 
“ That’s just to show Peggy that she must keep 
quiet, no matter what happens,” he said in answer 
to his mother’s reproving : “ Why, Ben ! ” 

Betty had sprung to Alice’s defence, and for a 
moment she and Ben had a lively pulling contest 
over the pillow. Elsa looked on in surprise; not 
having any brothers or sisters, she was not used 
to that kind of fun and hardly knew what to make 
of it. 

Suddenly Betty dropped her corner of the pillow. 
“ Excuse me,” she said to Mrs. Holt ; “ I forgot. 
Ben threw that pillow at Alice just the way Max 
throws one at me sometimes, and I have to defend 
myself.” 

“ You will have a lively time to-night, Mrs. 


144 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

Holt,” Ruth Warren said, with a sober face and 
smiling eyes. 

“ Children must be children,” Mrs. Holt replied 
with an answering smile. “ It is better for Alice to 
have things a little lively than to lie here and feel 
lonely. But I think that she and Betty will be 
studying over to-day’s lessons after supper.” 

“ O, mamma ! with my lame ankle ! ” protested 
Alice. And Betty’s face fell a little. 

“ Yes, dear, you must study awhile; it will not 
hurt your ankle. You say that Betty is always 
ahead of you in your classes, so she can be the 
teacher.” Mrs. Holt said this partly to cheer Betty 
and partly so that Elsa would not go away think- 
ing that the visit she was missing would be all 
pleasure. 

“ We haven’t any more dolls’ dresses to make, 
Miss Ruth,” Alice said, handing to her a pile of 
neatly folded little light-coloured garments. 
“ What shall we do next ? ” 

“ I will have something ready at the next meet- 
ing, Alice, — something that perhaps Ben can help 
upon,” replied Ruth Warren, kissing Alice good- 
bye, and thinking that it would be hard to find two 
more lovable and companionable children than 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


145 


Alice and Ben, or a happier, more satisfying home 
life than theirs. 

“ Just think, only two weeks more of school,” 
cried Betty. “ Maybe the Club can meet twice a 
week in vacation ? ” Betty looked at Miss Ruth 
question ingly. 

“ O, I wish it could ! ” Alice clasped her chubby 
hands together beseechingly. 

Ruth Warren shook her head, but with that kind 
look in her eyes which always made any refusal 
seem less hard. “ Once a week is enough for us 
really to enjoy it,” she said, “ don’t you think so, 
Betty dear ? ” 

“ I suppose so,” Betty admitted with her usual 
candour; “only I don’t ever have half so good a 
time anywhere else.” 

“ Come, Elsa, we must start,” Miss Ruth said, 
adding, as she shook hands with Mrs. Holt : “ I 
should like to call upon you some day soon.” 

“ I should be delighted to have you call,” replied 
Mrs. Holt, warmly. “ I have made only a few ac- 
quaintances in Berkeley during the year I have 
lived here. Betty’s mother has been very kind 
about coming to see me. Children often bring to- 
gether people who might not otherwise meet,” she 




146 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

added, smoothing back Betty’s rumpled hair in a 
gentle, motherly fashion. 

“We will show you the market-garden when you 
come again,” Ben said with an air of pride. “ It’s 
a very interesting place.” 

“ Yes, you might enjoy that, Miss Warren,” said 
Mrs, Holt with a gentle dignity. “ We have a large 
winter-garden, back of the house, and this year, in 
addition to vegetables, we are raising hyacinths and 
such things, and later, we are going to try raising 
mushrooms.” 

“ That sounds most delightful,” said Miss Ruth 
heartily; “ I am sure I shall enjoy seeing it all.” 

“ Perhaps you would like to come, also,” Mrs. 
Holt said, rather timidly it seemed, turning to Elsa. 

“ O, yes, I should,” cried Elsa eagerly. “ I think 
you are very kind to little girls, and,” she added 
shyly, trying to be very polite, “ you — you have 
beautiful flowers.” 

“ Children and flowers — I’ve never had enough 
of them yet,” exclaimed Mrs. Holt, stooping sud- 
denly to kiss Elsa’s upturned face. 

It was snowing hard. Ben tucked Miss Ruth 
and Elsa into the back seat and then mounted to 
the front seat. Mrs. Holt, Alice, and Betty waved 
good-bye from the front windows, Miss Ruth and 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


147 


Elsa waved back as long as they could see the 
house; and the gay, pleasant meeting was over. 

Elsa was always so happy in being with Miss 
Ruth that once the pang of leaving had vanished, 
she settled down with a contented sigh. It was 
a beautiful time to be out-of-doors. Now that the 
snow was falling in thick soft flakes, the chill had 
gone out of the air. The tall evergreen trees 
drooped under their heavy white cloaks. In the 
west there was a faint rosy tinge from the light 
of the setting sun. Now and then a loud-cawing 
crow flew overhead, and once, by the roadside, they 
saw a hungry blue- jay flirt the snow off from a 
tall brown weed and begin to pick out and eat the 
seeds. 

The three talked awhile of the sights and sounds 
around them. Then Ben turned his entire atten- 
tion to Jerry, who needed constant urging for this 
journey away from home, at the end of the day. 

“ I asked Miss Hartwell a day or two ago about 
the nurse Bettina ; and her name is Bettina March,” 
Miss Ruth said, unexpectedly. 

“ O my Bettina ! ” cried Elsa, with a little gasp. 
“ And is she coming back ? ” 

“ Possibly,” Miss Ruth replied. “ She was at 
the Convalescent Home only about six weeks, and 


148 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


went away because she was not very well; but if 
she is better, she is coming back about Christmas 
time.” 

“ Then I shall see her, — grandmother will 
surely let me see her; but it won’t be for three 
whole weeks!” The little thrill of disappointment 
in Elsa’s voice told Ruth Warren better than words 
could have told, how dearly Elsa loved her old 
nurse. 

“ Of course she may not come back at all, Elsa,” 
Ruth Warren felt obliged to say. 

To this Elsa made no reply; but she asked, in a 
rather choked voice : “ Did you find out where Bet- 
tina is now? ” 

“ No, Elsa,” Miss Ruth answered gently. She 
felt very sorry for Elsa’s disappointment, but she 
did not wish in any way to interfere with Mrs. 
Dan f orth’s plan for the child. 

Ben, perched upon the front seat, was begin- 
ning to look as if he had on a white fur coat. 
They were just driving along Washington Avenue, 
approaching the Warren house, when Elsa ex- 
claimed rapturously: “ Uncle Ned! O, there is my 
Uncle Ned!” 

A tall, broad-shouldered man, who was strolling 
by in leisurely fashion, looked up and then stepped 



“ SOOTHING THE CHILD WHO CLUNG TO HIM SO 
PASSIONATELY.” 























































































































































THE CLUB GOES VISITING 149 

quickly toward the sleigh as Ben stopped his horse 
in front of the Warrens’ house. Elsa was out in 
a flash, and the tall man was bending over, sooth- 
ing the child who clung to him so passionately. 

“Uncle Ned! When did you come?” Elsa 
asked between laughter and tears. 

“ Less than an hour ago. I reached the house 
only a few moments before your grandmother was 
telephoning about you.” 

“ I am so glad, now, that I came home,” cried 
the child, still clinging to him as if she could hardly 
believe her happiness in really having him here. 

Ben had meanwhile jumped out and was gal- 
lantly helping Miss Ruth from the sleigh. Elsa 
was far too excited to think of introductions. 

“This is your friend, Miss Ruth, Elsa?” asked 
the tall uncle, taking off his hat. 

“Yes — excuse me — this is Miss Ruth, our 
Club — our Christmas Makers’ Club — ” cried 
Elsa, telling the name before she thought. 

“ Miss Ruth looks more like a tall young lady 
than a Club, — even a Christmas Makers’ Club,” 
said Elsa’s uncle gravely. 

“ Uncle Ned ! I mean that she runs the Club,” 
cried Elsa in half distressed, half laughing tone. 

“ Yes, I run the Club,” said Ruth Warren 


150 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


quickly. The arc-light overhead shone brightly. 
The snow was on her long eyelashes and her face 
was flushed with the fresh air. 

“ I am grateful to you if my little niece has 
caught her red cheeks from the running,” was the 
instant reply. 

“ Here is another member of the Club,” Ruth 
Warren said, turning to Ben, “ Ben Holt, the only 
boy in the Club.” 

“ Another red-cheeked member ! I quite approve 
of this Club,” said the tall uncle, who had dark 
gray eyes, somewhat like Elsa’s. “ Does the Club 
drive you, or do you drive the Club, sir ? ” he asked, 
in his quick way of speaking. 

“ Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sir,” Ben 
replied merrily. “ I am the only one that takes 
them driving, though, because I have such a safe, 
steady horse.” 

“ He looks like a good safe horse, Ben,” said 
Elsa’s uncle, gravely and politely. 

Ben climbed back into the sleigh and began turn- 
ing Jerry. “Good-bye! Perhaps you’ll come to 
the Club sometimes, as long as you are Elsa’s 
uncle,” he called out in friendly fashion; “ it meets 
Friday afternoons. Good-bye, Black Lace Lady! 
Good-bye, Elsa ! ” 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


151 


“ Thank you/' the tall uncle called out, for Jerry, 
headed toward home, started off in a hurry ; “ I 
am afraid I shall not be here until another meet- 
ing.” 

The boy and the angular horse vanished amid the 
thick-falling snow. 

“ How long are you going to stay, Uncle Ned? 
asked Elsa, in a most anxious voice. 

“ Only over night, Sweetheart,” he answered 
quickly, “ but we mustn’t let that spoil our visit. 
What is the name of this wonderful Club?” 

“ Didn’t you hear me say it ? ” Elsa asked. 

But Uncle Ned had forgotten. 

“ It’s a secret,” said Elsa ; “ you can’t know it 
unless you belong.” 

“ It is a very exclusive Club, you see, Mr. Dan- 
forth,” said Miss Ruth, turning toward the walk 
which led from the pavement to her home. 

“ That makes me want to join all the more,” 
came the laughing answer. 

“ I can tell you just this much, Uncle Ned,” cried 
Elsa, unfastening Miss Ruth’s golf-cape, “ we are 
making things for Christmas.” 

“ And does Miss Ruth live here in the house 
next to your grandmother’s ? ” asked the tall uncle, 
taking the cape from Elsa. 


152 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“Yes; she lives all alone with her aunt, just 
the way I live all alone with grandmother,” Elsa 
said, a little sadly. 

“ You ought to be very good friends,” said the 
uncle, soberly, for he had noticed the change in 
Elsa’s tone. 

“We are,” replied Ruth Warren convincingly. 

“ Yes, we are,” echoed Elsa in a happy voice 
now. 

“ Let me go ahead on your path and make some 
tracks for you, the snow is so deep,” suggested Mr. 
Danforth, quickly stepping forward. So Ruth 
Warren followed in his footsteps, and Elsa brought 
up in the rear. 

At the door, Elsa’s uncle put out his hand and 
said in a grateful voice : “ My little niece has writ- 
ten me about you, Miss Warren, and I want to 
thank you for all that you are doing to make her 
happy.” 

“ Elsa and her friends give me a great deal of 
pleasure,” said Miss Ruth in turn, with an unmis- 
takable ring of sincerity in her voice. 

“Will the Club meet here next Friday?” asked 
Elsa eagerly. 

“Yes, next Friday; and we shall have some- 
thing new to work upon,” Miss Ruth replied. 


THE CLUB GOES VISITING 


153 


“ Will you give Miss Ruth her cape, Uncle 
Ned?” asked Elsa. “ She let me take it for our 
sleigh-ride. I wonder what the new thing is going 
to be,” she added, with lively interest. 

But Miss Ruth only smiled and said : “ Wait 
and see ! ” 

As Elsa’s Uncle Ned took off his hat in farewell, 
Ruth Warren saw that his hair was quite gray and 
that his face had the careworn look of a very busy 
man. Elsa herself seemed like another girl since 
her uncle had come. 

Miss Virginia Warren had left the shade up, at 
her front window, and had seen Ruth’s meeting 
with the tall man whom Elsa Danforth had greeted 
so affectionately. 

“ There, Ruth ! ” said Miss Virginia when her 
niece came into her room; “ I was sure something 
would happen ! What could that young gentleman 
have thought of your being in that dreadful old 
sleigh ? ” 

“ It was Elsa’s uncle, and he is not so very 
young, Aunt Virginia; I am sure he is forty, and 
his hair is gray,” replied Ruth Warren. “ I don’t 
believe he was thinking of me at all ; he seemed so 
rejoiced that Elsa’s cheeks were red instead of 


154 THE CHRISTMAS MAKER’S CLUB 


white that I don’t believe he thought about any- 
thing or anybody else.” 

But Miss Virginia was not to be pacified: “ You 
do such strange things, Ruth, for a young woman 
of your social position, and thirty years old, too,” 
she sighed ; “ going off in that pung, was it, you 
called it? with a lot of children, and to a market- 
gardener’s home.” 

Ruth Warren, leaving the first part of her aunt’s 
remark without answer, made haste to say : “ Mrs. 
Holt is in every sense a lady, and I shall call upon 
her at the very first opportunity.” 

Miss Virginia dropped the subject, and said in 
a more kindly tone : “ I really hope the Club will 
come here next week; I begin to think, as Sarah 
does, that it is rather pleasant to hear their young 
voices in this quiet old house. We missed them 
this afternoon.” 

In this change of mind on the part of Miss Vir- 
ginia, Ruth Warren recognized Sarah Judd’s influ- 
ence; for behind an iron exterior, this trusty old 
serving-woman had a heart of gold. 


CHAPTER V 

A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 

Something the heart must have to cherish. 

— Henry W. Longfellow . 

HE next Monday afternoon Elsa and 
Alice went home from school with 
Betty to talk over a plan which Elsa 
had said, with a very mysterious air, 
that she wanted to tell them about. Finding 
that the baby was not in the nursery, Betty 
took her friends to this delightful room, with the 
flowering geraniums and the little strawberry-birds 
and the row of dolls, the gay pillows of the win- 
dow-seat, and the Kate Greenaway paper. 

“ I should think you would stay here all the time, 
Betty,” exclaimed Elsa, curling herself into a little 
heap on the rug, and leaning back against the bed ; 
her eyes began roaming around the “ picture-book 
room,” as she called it to herself. 

“ I do stay here half of the time, — all night,” 
Betty answered quickly. “ That’s half the time 
when you have to go to bed at eight o’clock! Now 
155 



156 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


tell us about your secret.” Betty sat down near the 
door, to guard the approach, and Alice drew a small 
rocking-chair close to the shelf of plants, so that 
she could watch the lively little strawberry-birds. 

“ It’s this,” said Elsa; “ when my Uncle Ned 
was here, last Friday, he asked me ever and ever 
so much about the Club, and I told him about our 
dressing dolls for the Convalescent Home children, 
and about how much they needed money; and he 
thought it would be nice if we could earn some 
money, — no matter if it was just a little, — and 
surprise Miss Ruth, and have it to give to the Con- 
valescent Home with the dolls on Christmas Day.” 
Elsa’s eyes were shining with interest. 

“ I know how I can earn some,” cried Betty. 
“ When I especially want to earn money, mother 
gives me five cents a day for emptying waste- 
baskets; and I will ask father to let me black his 
boots. How many days are there before Christ- 
mas, — let me see, just fourteen, and the waste- 
baskets would give me seventy cents, surely. What 
are you going to do, Elsa, to earn money ? ” 

“ Uncle Ned said he would give me fifty cents 
a week if I would write a four-page letter to him 
twice a week.” 

“ That will be a dollar,” said Betty, a little envi- 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 157 


ous at Elsa’s being able to earn more than she. 
“ What will you do, Alice ? ” 

“ Mamma sometimes pays me for washing the 
dishes. If I do them twice a day, she will give me 
five cents, I think, each day.” 

“ That will be seventy cents more,” Betty said 
encouragingly, “ and two dollars and forty cents in 
all.” 

“ And I’m sure Ben can earn some, shovelling 
snow and running errands,” cried Alice eagerly. 

“ I wish grandmother would let me wash dishes 
or black boots,” sighed Elsa. “ Work hurts peo- 
ple’s hands, she says.” 

“ But we will have at least three dollars, if Ben 
earns some, too,” Betty said quickly, thinking how 
tiresome it must be to have to be careful all the 
time about keeping one’s hands soft and white. 
“ Won’t Miss Ruth be surprised, though ! ” she 
added joyfully. 

Elsa clasped her slender little hands around her 
knees : “ I know a lovely surprise the Club is going 
to have ; ” her violet-gray eyes danced with pleas- 
ure. 

“ O, what is it? ” cried both the other girls. 

“ I mustn’t tell; Uncle Ned told me not to. You 
see, he asked me what I wanted most for Christ- 


158 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


mas, and at first I said some little strawberry-birds 
like Betty’s, and then we talked it over, and he said 
he couldn’t get them very well in cold weather, and 
perhaps grandmother wouldn’t like them, so we 
decided on something even nicer, — something the 
whole Club will like.” 

“ I think it’s mean to tell just a little bit, and 
not tell the rest,” declared Betty. 

“ But I should think you’d like to know you are 
going to have something, anyway,” said peace- 
maker Alice. “Will Miss Ruth like it, too?” 

“ I think so ; I am sure she will,” Elsa answered, 
joyfully. 

Seeing the cloud on Betty’s face, Alice spoke up 
quickly : “ Don’t you think we ought to decide 
to-day on something to give Miss Ruth for Christ- 
mas, — maybe something from all of us?” 

“ Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” exclaimed 
Betty, diverted by the suggestion. “ Mother said 
she would help us decide.” And Betty ran out into 
the hall, calling “ Mother ! Mother, dear ! ” 

Presently Mrs. White came into the nursery. 
Being an affectionate and thoughtful woman, she 
felt that it was wise not in any way to discourage 
the generous impulses of the little girls. “ How 
will this plan suit you ? ” she asked, after they had 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 159 

talked the matter over for a few moments : “ Each 
one of you bring to me the amount of money she 
can perfectly well afford to give for a present, and 
no one shall know how much the others give; then 
all of you go with me some day after vacation 
begins, and we will choose the present.” 

This plan suited the girls perfectly. 

“ And it makes another surprise,” cried Elsa in 
great delight. ‘‘We have so many now that I am 
almost getting them mixed up.” 

Mrs. White’s motherly heart was rejoiced at 
Elsa’s brighter, happier face. “ The Club and the 
being with other children are doing her a world 
of good,” she said to herself wisely. 

At noon on Friday, Betty White ran in to see 
Miss Ruth, solely for the purpose of talking about 
the Club meeting. “ Elsa and I were saying at 
recess this morning,” she began breathlessly, “ that 
we thought you had forgotten all about the story 
of the old lady’s doll that you were going to tell 
us. Will you tell it this afternoon? You can be 
thinking it up.” 

To this Miss Ruth agreed. 

Betty had in one hand a fancy-striped paper bag, 
full of chocolate candy. She held it toward Miss 


160 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

Ruth : “ Take some, please. O, take more than 
one piece! Mother had a birthday yesterday and 
she gave each of us children two dollars. She hid 
the money in different places ’round the house, and 
we had to hunt for it; it was such fun. 

“ I like mother’s birthdays, ’cause she always 
gives us something,” Betty rattled on, in her usual 
lively fashion. “ Last year she baked some new 
silver dollars into a cottage pudding: it looked so 
heavy that none of us would take any at first, ex- 
cept Max, but when he bit into a dollar and showed 
it to us, we all took some in a hurry. 

“ Have some more candy, please,” urged Betty, 
generously, holding forth the striped bag again. 
“ I bought a lot, — twenty-five cents’ worth out 
of my two dollars, — so I could have some candy 
to eat in school. I never get found out. Don’t 
ever tell, will you ? ” 

“ Do I ever tell ? ” asked Miss Ruth. 

“ No,” Betty said, with an approving nod, “ I 
don’t believe you ever do.” 

“ Don’t you think it would be more honourable, 
however, Betty, since candy-eating is not allowed 
in school, for you not to take the candy there ? ” 
Ruth Warren asked, looking intently into Betty’s 
face. 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 161 

Betty lowered her eyes, but did not make any 
answer. 

“ Leave the candy here/’ suggested Ruth War- 
ren, “ and have it for the Club meeting.” 

“ All — right, I will,” came the rather reluctant 
but courageous consent. 

“ Well, it’s ’most school-time and I must go,” 
cried Betty in her wonted happy manner, a half- 
moment later. “ Thank you for keeping the 
candy.” She took a last piece by way of reward 
to herself, and hurried off to school. 

There was no Alice with Betty and Elsa when 
they arrived, soon after three o’clock. “ She wasn’t 
at school this morning, but Ben has gone home to 
see if she can come,” Betty explained at once. 

“ Mrs. Holt has just now telephoned me,” Ruth 
Warren said, “ and she tells me that Alice has a 
feverish cold, so she cannot come to the Club.” 

“ We might go out there,” Betty suggested. 

“ But we are not invited,” Ruth Warren replied 
merrily. “ If Alice has a feverish cold, naturally 
enough her mother would not invite us there.” 

“ It is too bad,” cried Elsa. “ Alice will be so 
disappointed.” Both she and Betty looked quite 
downcast, for they were very fond of Alice. 


162 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Can we have the story just the same, or shall 
we wait ? ” Betty inquired anxiously. 

“ We will have the story,” replied Miss Ruth, 
“ because I shall go out to see Alice to-morrow, 
and if she would like, I will tell it to her there.” 

“ Please begin now, then,” urged Betty. 

“ But first I want to show you what I have for 
the Club to work upon,” said Miss Ruth, beginning 
to undo the wrappings of a large, flat pasteboard 
box which stood upon the table. 

“ O, goody ! ” cried Betty, who had been eying 
the box with lively curiosity. 

“ Paper dolls ! ” exclaimed Elsa, clasping her 
hands in rapturous delight, as the box-cover came 
off. 

“ What beauties ! ” Betty said, dancing a quick- 
step in her excitement. 

There were twelve sets of dolls, all fully dressed, 
and with extra costumes, ready to be painted. 

“ All those dresses, — all the hats, too, to be 
painted,” said Elsa, in great glee. 

“ What fun ! What fun ! ” cried Betty, whirling 
around like a lively top, while Miss Ruth took from 
the box a large tin case of water-colour paints and 
several brushes, and placed them upon some sheets 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 163 


of blotting-paper which already covered the pol- 
ished mahogany table. 

Betty had just been out to the kitchen for some 
water, — at Miss Ruth’s suggestion and to grim- 
faced Sarah’s great delight, — and she was filling 
the paint saucers when she glanced up at the sound 
of loud sleigh-bells and cried out : “ Why ! there is 
Alice!” 

“It can’t be Alice!” said Elsa, following Betty 
to the window. 

“ It’s the Holts’ hired man, grinning from ear 
to ear, and Alice with him,” insisted Betty. “ She 
has just jumped out of the sleigh.” 

The bell rang, and in a surprisingly short time 
Sarah appeared at the library door, trying hard not 
to burst out laughing; for behind her came Ben, 
very red in the face, dressed in a brown sailor suit 
of Alice’s, and looking so sheepish and so comical 
that Miss Ruth joined in the general laugh,, and 
Sarah went off chuckling, with her white apron up 
to her face. 

“ Peggy felt so bad because she couldn’t come 
that I put on one of her old dresses over my own 
clothes, just for fun, to make her laugh,” said Ben, 
hanging his head, but marching bravely into the 


room. 


164 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

“ I shouldn’t think you’d want to wear girls’ 
clothes and come to a girls’ Club,” said Betty teas- 
ingly. 

“ Girls are all right, ’most of the time,” Ben 
answered. “ They’re too afraid of their clothes 
to be as nice as boys, all the time. This is awful 
tight; mother said she knew something would hap- 
pen to it ; ” he was still very red in the face. 

Something had happened already, for one of the 
sleeves had partly ripped from the blouse waist. 
Noticing this, Ruth Warren noticed also a tumultu- 
ous movement under the blouse, suggestive of sobs. 
But Ben’s smiling, ruddy face showed no signs of 
grief. A half moment later, a tiny, furry head 
with bright bead-like eyes, looked out above the 
blouse collar. 

In her usual tone Miss Ruth said : “ I see you 
have brought one of your pets with you, Ben.” 

Ben made a quick movement, but not quick 
enough to prevent a gray squirrel from springing 
out of his attempted grasp, upon the window-sill. 

Elsa jumped, and Betty cried: “ Ben Holt! 
How mean of you ! Poor little squirrel ! ” 

The squirrel’s heart was thumping wildly under 
the soft fur of his chest, and his breath came in 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 165 


quick gasps as he turned his head rapidly from side 
to side, searching a chance to escape. 

“ Is he your tame squirrel, Ben? ” Ruth Warren 
inquired. 

“Not exactly; you see we’ve been feeding him 
from the dining-room window, so he’s quite tame,” 
explained Ben, “ and — and I caught him on the 
wood-pile, with some nuts, and brought him along 
to see if the girls would be frightened.” 

“ O, that is it,” was all Ruth Warren said, but 
Ben’s face grew redder than ever. 

Making a sudden leap, the squirrel landed on 
top of the tall bookcase. From here he gave an- 
other leap to the top of a window, and began scold- 
ing loudly. 

“ I will bring some walnuts, Ben, so that you 
can capture this frightened little creature and take 
him home,” Miss Ruth said, going to the pantry. 

“Now aren’t you sorry, Ben?” teased Betty. 

The relish of the joke was indeed gone for Ben, 
but he faced the music bravely, for, though often 
heedless, he was no coward. When Miss Ruth 
came back with the walnuts, he asked the girls to 
keep quiet, and in a few moments coaxed Mr. 
Squirrel down from the window-top to the mantel, 


166 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


where he sat with his bushy tail curled up over his 
back, turning a nut-meat round and round in his 
paws as he ate it, listening and watching intently. 

It was hard for Betty and Elsa to keep from 
laughing, and even Miss Ruth had difficulty in 
keeping her face sober, for Ben in his sister’s short- 
skirted dress, which hardly came to his knees, — * 
leaving an extra long pair of thin legs which ended 
in good-sized feet, — was an exceedingly droll 
sight. A giggle from Betty at the critical moment 
sent the squirrel flying to the curtain-top again; 
but greedy hunger conquered fear, and growing 
venturesome again, the squirrel came by cautious 
degrees down to the window-sill. While he sat 
there, filling his cheek pouches with the cracked 
walnuts, Ben, who had been close at hand all the 
while, deftly captured him and tucked him away 
securely into the blouse waist. 

“ Now, if one of you girls will unfasten this old 
dress skirt, I’ll drop it off,” Ben said meekly, after 
struggling to unbutton the skirt with one hand 
while holding the squirrel fast with the other. “ I 
can’t go through the streets with a skirt on,” he 
added, shamefacedly. 

Miss Ruth unfastened the waist-band buttons, 
the skirt dropped to the floor, and Ben stood there 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 167 


in the middle of the room, looking even funnier 
than ever in his dark blue knickerbockers and the 
brown blouse waist. Miss Ruth mercifully and 
quickly helped him into the old blue reefer jacket, 
which was so tight now that he could not button 
it at all. 

“ I should be glad to have you come back to the 
Club meeting, after you have taken the squirrel 
home, Ben,” Miss Ruth said, with the double pur- 
pose of making sure that the squirrel reached his 
headquarters and of giving Ben a share in the meet- 
ing if he really wanted to come back. “ Will you 
ask Alice if she would like some of the paper dolls 
to paint, and if she would, you could take them 
to her,” she added. 

“ Yes, I will come back,” Ben answered, with a 
brightening face. “ I’d like to — anyway — and 
Peggy would be disappointed not to know all about 
the meeting.” 

“ I am going to tell the Club a story I promised 
them. It is only about a little old lady’s doll; but 
if you would like to hear it, I will wait till you 
come.” 

“ Yes, ma’am, I should like to hear it, thank 
you,” replied Ben most humbly. 


168 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Alice said you like dolls, Ben,” cried Betty 
mischievously. 

“ I don’t care, — I do like dolls sometimes. I 
ducked a boy into the frog-pond once — ” began 
Ben; but he stopped and burst out laughing, for 
Miss Ruth had given him a queer look, and now 
she was saying : “ It seems to me we have heard 
about that before, Ben.” 

“ Hurry, Ben,” exclaimed Elsa, impatient for 
the story. “ Hurry home and hurry back again.” 

“ Perhaps I can find our hired man on the road 
with Jerry,” called out Ben, as he left the room, 
“ and then I’d go flying home and back quicker 
than a flash.” 

“ Or a squirrel,” added Miss Ruth. “ Be careful 
of the squirrel, Ben.” 

Both Elsa and Betty wanted some advice about 
the colours of paints to use first, so the time did not 
seem very long to them before Ben returned, — a 
most penitent- faced boy now, and in his own 
clothes. 

Ben walked straight up to Miss Ruth, made his 
best bow, and said in a manly way, though very 
fast : “ Mother says I must beg your pardon for 
bringing the squirrel. I am sorry I did it.” 

“ I think you frightened the squirrel more than 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 169 


you did the girls, Ben,” Miss Ruth replied, feeling 
that the boy had already done sufficient penance for 
his attempted fun. 

Ben drew a long breath of relief. “ I had a ride 
both ways,” he said, quite cheerfully. “ May I 
paint, too?” he inquired, turning to look at the 
tempting array upon the table, and also at the plate- 
ful of thin sandwiches which Miss Ruth had wisely 
provided to go with Betty's candy. 

“ Yes, indeed,” Miss Ruth answered. “ How 
would you like to paint the shoes on the dolls? 
Take some sandwiches, children.” 

“ I will black their boots for them,” cried Ben 
merrily, as he helped himself to a chicken sandwich 
and a paint-brush. 

“ Betty brought the candy,” said Miss Ruth, for 
Ben, somehow, was ready for a piece in a flash. 
Then Betty bravely made the explanation. 

“ Peggy says she will do all the painting you 
want her to. She can’t hardly wait for it.” Ben 
suddenly remembered the message. 

“We can’t hardly wait for that story! Please, 
please, begin ! ” entreated Betty. 

This is a true story, children, — said Ruth War- 
ren, going toward the hearth, where a bright wood 


170 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


fire burned steadily, and wheeling a deep, comfort- 
able chair half around so that she might watch the 
children at their work : — The winter that I was 
eleven years old, my father had to go to California. 
My mother went with him, and as it would have 
been a rather long, hard journey for a child, they 
left me with my grandmother, who lived in a 
roomy, old-fashioned house just on the border of 
a large town. I was not very well that winter, and 
the doctor had said I must not go to school, but 
must be out-of-doors all that I could. I remember 
this half made up to me for having my father and 
mother go away — or I tried to think it did. 

About three minutes’ walk from my grand- 
mother’s, Miss Phoebe Dean, a little old lady who 
had been a school-teacher in her younger days, 
lived all alone in a snug, small story-and-a-half 
house. Miss Dean owned the house, but she was 
rather poor and not very strong. Grandmother 
used to send broths and jellies and things of that 
kind to her, every few days, and as I had no school 
lessons to take my time, grandmother generally 
sent the things by me. 

Miss Dean was very friendly. She had all sorts 
of quaint, interesting curiosities in her house, for 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 171 

her father had been around the world several times 
as captain of his own ship and had brought home 
many treasures ; sometimes she would open an old 
carved chest and show me wonderful pictures and 
beautiful embroideries. Before long, she and I 
were such good friends that I went to see her al- 
most every day, whether or not grandmother had 
anything to send. 

The bedroom which I slept in at my grand- 
mother’s had a dormer window facing toward Miss 
Dean’s house; and Miss Dean told me that she 
used to watch for my light every night at my bed- 
time. Grandmother had made Miss Dean promise 
that if she ever was ill at night, and wanted help, 
she would put two candles side by side in her front 
window. One night, after grandmother had put out 
my light and tucked me into bed, I looked toward 
Miss Dean’s house, thinking that she was thinking 
about me; and I felt sure that I saw two candles 
in her front window. There were a few flakes of 
snow falling, and the lights looked rather dim, but 
I was sure they were there, and meant that Miss 
Dean was ill. 

I called down to grandmother. She came up- 
stairs to look, and then we both looked, but now 


172 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


neither one of us could see any light. Grandmother 
said : “You imagined you saw the two candles, 
Ruth.” 

“ No, grandmother,” I insisted. “ I am sure I 
saw them.” 

Grandmother laughed and called me a foolish 
little girl; but, to comfort me, said she would sit 
near the window down-stairs and look out every 
now and then toward Miss Dean’s house. I kept 
my eyes on her window, by propping myself up in 
bed, with the pillows, until by and by I grew too 
sleepy to keep my eyes open, — especially as I did 
not see the candles again. 

The next morning there was deep snow over 
everything. And because grandmother’s house was 
on the border of the town, the streets were not 
cleared of snow until noonday. I kept thinking 
and talking about Miss Dean so much that about 
eleven o’clock grandmother said : “ Put on your 
rubber boots, Ruth, and go over to see her, if you 
want to.” 

In about a minute I had on those rubber boots 
and my thick red coat, and was wading in the 
snow, quite to my knees, toward the little white 
house. It took me so long that two or three times 
I almost gave it up, because I was used to running 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 173 


over in such a short time. But I kept on, and 
finally came to Miss Dean’s green-and-white gate. 
There were no foot-tracks in the front yard, and 
the snow was so deep that I could hardly find the 
door-steps. When I did find them, I began pound- 
ing on the front door — Miss Dean did not have 
any door-bell — and very soon I saw her all bun- 
dled up in a shawl, looking out of the window to 
see who it was, before she unlocked the door. 

Poor little old lady! She led me into the sit- 
ting-room, where she slept in the winter. “ I shall 
have to go back to bed, dear,” she said in her sweet 
way ; “ I have had a dreadful pain in my head ever 
since yesterday afternoon.” 

“ Then you did put the two candles at the win- 
dow last night ? ” I asked eagerly. 

“ Yes, dear, for a little while,” she said in a 
weak voice as she sank back against her pillows. 
“ But when I saw that it was snowing, I took the 
candles away so as not to disturb your grand- 
mother, for I thought the hired man and his wife 
might be gone down town, and she would have no 
one to send over.” 

“ Is there anything I can do for you ? ” I asked, 
for she had closed her eyes as if she were suffer- 
ing. Half-frightened by her white face, I looked 


174 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


away from the bed; and there in a little rocking- 
chair what did I see but a black-eyed doll, dressed 
in a long, clean white flannel nightgown and with 
a red shawl pinned around her. 

“ You might get some hot water from the tea- 
kettle on the kitchen stove,” said Miss Dean, with- 
out opening her eyes, “ and put a teaspoon ful of 
peppermint essence out of that bottle on the table 
into a half glass of water. That might make me 
feel better.” 

I hurried out to the kitchen and brought back 
the hot mixture. Miss Dean took it all, then set- 
tled down again among the pillows; but she did 
not look so pale now. “ I shall soon feel better,” 
she said in her pretty, patient way. 

So I waited, seating myself opposite that doll. 
It had a china head with such black hair, big black 
eyes and a round face, very white except the bright 
red cheeks and lips. It was a pretty, lovable doll, 
and I knew it must be a very old one. 

“ You are looking at my doll, Ruth,” Miss Dean 
said suddenly; and turning, I found her eyes fixed 
upon my face. 

“ Is it your doll ? ” I cried. 

“ Yes,” she said softly. She had large brown 



“‘WHAT DID I SEE BUT 


A BLACK-EYED DOLL.’” 


* 



A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 175 


eyes and a delicate face; her eyes seemed larger 
than ever now, because her face was so white. 

“ It is my doll,” Miss Dean repeated. “ Would 
you like to hold her? ” 

I had been longing to take that quaint, white- 
nightgowned doll into my arms. So I jumped up 
quickly and brought her back with me to the chair 
by the bed. Probably my face showed how I loved 
that old china doll on the spot. Anyway, after Miss 
Dean had watched me holding it a little while, she 
said : “ That peppermint makes my head feel bet- 
ter. I will tell you about the doll.” 

“ What is her name ? ” I asked. 

“ Susie,” Miss Dean said, “ and I have had her 
ever since I was five years old. The way I happen 
to keep her out now is this : You see, when I was 
younger, I used to teach children, year after year, 
different ones, of course. I used to think that 
maybe if I married and had a little daughter of 
my own, I would name her Susie, — my mother’s 
name was Susan. But I grew older, and I didn’t 
marry, and then, after a time, I had to give up 
school-teaching. My father and my mother had 
died, and I missed the children more and more. 

“ One day when it was very stormy and I was 


176 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


dreadfully, desperately lonely, without a human 
being around, I went to the old trunk under the 
eaves, where I had put my dolls away when I was 
fourteen years old, and I took Susie out for just 
that day. And having that doll with me made me 
feel so' much happier that, afterward, every once 
in awhile, when I grew lonely, I would take her 
out again. I made some new dresses and night- 
gowns for her, because it didn’t seem quite fair not 
to treat her well when she gave me so much pleas- 
ure. 

“ Then, two or three years ago,” — Miss Dean 
went on ; and her large brown eyes began to grow 
very bright now, — “I put Susie into that little 
rocking-chair one snowy night when I went to bed ; 
and it was so pleasant to wake up in the morning 
and find her there that I began to have her out 
every night. By day I always put her into the 
bureau drawer, because I thought if people saw 
her, they wouldn’t understand. I should have put 
her away this morning when you came, only I was 
suffering so, I forgot her.” 

“ But I understand,” I said very quickly. “ I 
am sure that if I lived alone, I should do just the 
same.” 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 177 

“ So should I. Wasn’t Miss Dean dear?” said 
Elsa, pushing back her cloudy golden hair as Miss 
Ruth stopped a moment to put a bit of fallen wood 
again into the fire. 

“ Why didn’t she have more than one doll ? ” 
Betty asked, thoughtfully, splashing her brush into 
the water. 

“ Because one is enough,” said Elsa instantly. 

“ Everybody likes one best,” explained Ben, with 
the wisdom of ten and a half years. 

After Miss Dean had told me about Susie, — 
continued Ruth Warren, leaning comfortably back 
into her chair again, — she asked me if I would 
like to see Susie’s dresses. I said yes, of course, 
and she told me to open the lower drawer of the 
bureau. Such a quantity of pretty things as I 
found ! I dressed and undressed Susie to my 
heart’s content, putting on first a plaid silk gown, 
then a checked blue-and-white gingham and a 
funny little Red Riding-hood suit; and finally I 
put Susie back into her white nightgown, for I 
felt that Miss Dean would probably rather choose 
her dress for the day. And very soon I said I 
must go. 


178 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Can’t you stop and have a little bit of dinner 
— a kind of lunch — with me?” Miss Dean asked. 
“If you will put some biscuits into the oven to 
warm, and make some tea, I will dress myself, and 
we can have that with some cold ham and jelly.” 

I said I could stay, — for I knew grandmother 
wouldn’t mind. So Miss Dean told me where the 
biscuit and tea were, and by the time I had them 
ready, she came out into the kitchen, dressed in a 
gray flannel wrapper with light blue trimmings. 
She made me think of a doll, she was so small and 
so dainty; — she was one of the daintiest people 
I have ever known, with white, beautifully shaped 
hands and soft, silky hair — 

“ She makes me think of Elsa,” said Betty, with 
a little sigh, half of envy, half of appreciation. 

“ Don’t interrupt, please , Betty,” Elsa entreated, 
unmindful of what Betty had said. 

Everything about Miss Dean’s house was as 
dainty as Miss Dean herself — resumed the story- 
teller ; — and everything in the house seemed small, 
like herself, — tables, chairs, lamps, vases, kitchen 
stove, even the dishes we ate out of. We had a 
good luncheon, I remember, and Miss Dean kept 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 179 


me interested, as she always did, with stories of 
what had happened long ago. After we finished 
eating, she leaned her head back against her chair 
in a tired way — she sat at the table in a little 
rocking-chair — and she said in a wistful voice: 
“ I have been thinking about my poor hens. Not 
a bit of corn or water have they had since yester- 
day, and I don’t dare go out to feed them because 
my head is so dizzy that I am afraid of falling.” 

“ O, let me feed them,” I begged instantly. 

“But they will be afraid of you,” she said; 
“ they are used to seeing my clothes.” 

“ I can dress up in your clothes,” I said. “ O, 
do let me, please ! ” 

Miss Dean liked a little fun, and she did want 
her hens fed. So she showed me where she kept 
her “ chicken clothes ” — as she called them, — a 
short brown skirt and a square plaid shawl that she 
wore over her head and shoulders. The skirt was 
long for me and the shawl made my head dread- 
fully hot. But we both laughed over it, and Miss 
Dean said she was glad to know how she looked. 
Then she told me not to flop my arms around, be- 
cause that would frighten the hens. So, with a 
pail of water and two quarts of corn, I made my 
way to the hen-house, which was just beyond a lit- 


180 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


tie shed. By the time I arrived, I had forgotten 
not to flop my arms, and the hens grew rather ex- 
cited and lively, but they were too hungry and 
thirsty to care much who fed them. After that, I 
hunted around and found over a dozen white eggs, 
some of them quite warm, I remember. I tripped 
upon the brown skirt, going back, and let one egg 
fall out of the corn measure. 

“ The dolls’ shoes are all blacked,” exclaimed 
Ben, rising suddenly and stretching himself, boy- 
fashion. “ May I take a sofa-pillow and lie down 
in front of the fire?” he asked, coming toward 
Miss Ruth. 

“ Make yourself comfortable, Ben,” she an- 
swered readily; which Ben accordingly did. 

“ Excuse my interrupting,” he said, in a low 
tone; “and please go on.” 

Miss Dean told me that breaking the egg did not 
matter, — that she often broke more than one, 
though I knew she said this just to make me feel 
better. “ I have brought something out for you,” 
she said, after I had taken off the brown skirt and 
the stifling plaid shawl, and she was counting the 
eggs. I saw on the kitchen table a black-and-gold 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 181 


lacquered box, neither large nor small. It looked 
so interesting that I wanted to open it at once, but 
Miss Dean began talking about the hens. 

I happened to see by the kitchen clock that it was 
almost three o’clock, and I knew that I ought to 
be going, for, though I sometimes stayed to lunch 
with Miss Dean, grandmother always said for me 
to come home immediately. 

You may imagine how much I wanted to see 
what was in that beautiful lacquered box; but I 
said that I must go home. I hurried into the bed- 
room for my coat and Miss Dean followed me. I 
saw that she had dressed Susie in the blue and white 
gingham frock while I had been out feeding the 
hens. 

“ I will come over to-morrow/’ I said, as Miss 
Dean helped me on with my coat. She noticed me 
looking at Susie, — although I was not thinking 
of the doll just then. 

“ Do you mind, dear, not telling any one about 
Susie ? ” Miss Dean asked in a timid voice. 

“ I will not tell anybody at all,” I remember I 
said, slowly, as I went, slowly also, out of the front 
door, hoping that Miss Dean would call me back 
to give me that box. 

“ Have you light enough for your painting, 


182 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


girls ? ” Miss Ruth stopped to ask. The daylight 
had suddenly begun to disappear. 

“ Let’s stop now; I have done three sets,” said 
Betty, dropping her paint-brush. 

“ I have finished two.” Elsa straightened back 
her shoulders and stretched her arms. 

Miss Ruth reached over to the couch and pulled 
two cushions down upon the hearth-rug. “ You 
have both done splendidly, and so has Ben, Sit 
here and rest yourselves now,” she said. 

“ Don’t waste any time from the story, please,” 
Betty said in a loud whisper as she seated herself, 
Turk-fashion, on the large square cushion and 
leaned her head against Miss Ruth’s knees. 

“ Didn’t Miss Dean give you the box, or even 
show it to you that day? ” inquired Ben, who was 
lying flat upon his stomach, looking into the fire. 

“ No,” replied Miss Ruth, “ not that day.” 

“ I think she was mean to forget it,” said out- 
spoken Betty. 

“ Wait till we’ve heard the end of the story,” 
exclaimed Elsa, who had curled up on her cushion 
against the heavy brass stand which held the fire- 
tongs and shovel. 

“Do you know the end of it?” Betty asked 
quickly. 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 183 


“No, — only I know anybody so nice as Miss 
Dean will be the same at the end,” Elsa said, with 
a very earnest expression in her eyes. 

“ I’ll bet I know what was in that box,” cried 
Ben, from his position on the centre of the rug. 

“What?” asked Betty. 

“ Hens’ eggs to hatch,” Ben replied confidently. 

“ The idea! ” exclaimed Betty. “ Just as if Miss 
Dean would have given a girl hens’ eggs for a 
present! Now keep still, Ben.” 

“We can have only a bit more of the story to- 
day, because it is almost five o’clock,” said Miss 
Ruth, putting her hand softly over Betty’s mouth, 
which began to frame an objecting “ O ! ” Then 
she continued: 

When I came home from Miss Dean’s, grand- 
mother felt dreadfully to think that the little old 
lady had been ill there all alone by herself. “ I 
must send her some nourishing things to eat,” said 
grandmother ; “ I would have Barker go now ” — 
he was the hired man — “ but he is off hauling 
wood, and Jenny ” — that was his wife — “ has a 
bad cold.” 

I said “ O, grandmother, let me go!” For I 
was wondering, harder than ever, what was in the 


184 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


lacquered box. But grandmother said, “ No, child, 
you have been out enough to-day in this bad walk- 
ing. You may go over, though, early in the morn- 
ing.” 

The clock pealed out five as Miss Ruth stopped 
with these words. 

“ Just a little more,” urged Betty. 

“ This will be a good place to begin again,” said 
Miss Ruth; “ we will have the rest of the story at 
the next Club meeting, if you like.” 

“ I want it now,” insisted Betty; “ I can stay.” 

“ But I can’t,” said Ben, “ only about a minute 
longer. I will think the first part over, going home, 
to tell Alice.” 

“ I hope she can come to the next meeting,” said 
Elsa, with a loyal thought for her little friend. 

“You must tell her, Ben, that we have missed 
her a great deal,” Miss Ruth said. 

“ And give her the Club’s love,” added Elsa. 

“ I like to have you do that,” said Betty, who 
had given up teasing and suddenly grown very 
quiet as Miss Ruth passed her hand slowly over the 
rumpled brown hair. 

Elsa looked on, from her seat against the tall 
brass fire-stand. She was too loving-natured to be 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 185 


jealous, but she would have dearly liked to be in 
Betty’s place, there against Miss Ruth’s knees. 
Still, Elsa was very happy. Miss Ruth’s dark red 
dress was so warm-looking in the firelight, and the 
room seemed so pleasant; it was restful and de- 
lightful just to be there. Elsa felt this keenly, al- 
though she would not have been able to put it into 
words. 

“ Do you know what fire-sparks are ? ” asked 
Ben, who was leaning on his elbows with his chin 
in his hands, and looking straight into the glowing 
fire. “ Sparks are the sunbeams that got shut up 
in the wood while the tree was growing, and now 
they are going up the chimney and back into the 
air again.” 

Sarah Judd, passing the library door to light the 
hall lamp, looked in for a moment, unnoticed by 
the Club. “ It do seem good to see them children 
stretched out in front of the fire and havin’ such a 
good time,” she said to herself, with one of the 
unexpectedly cracking-like smiles upon her grim 
face. 

The day after this meeting of the Club Miss Vir- 
ginia Warren took a cold from having her room 
overheated. “ I am really worried about myself,” 


186 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


she said after her niece had spent most of the day 
trying to make her comfortable. 

“ But the doctor says it is only a cold, and that 
your heart is in no danger,” said Ruth Warren; 
“ to be sure, a cold is uncomfortable enough to 
make one wretched,” she added. “ Let me open 
that farther window; a little fresh air will make 
you feel better.” 

“ O, no, no ! ” cried Miss Virginia, drawing her 
thick white shawl closer around herself at the 
thought. “ Don’t excite me so, Ruth. There’s no 
telling what may happen. My heart seems very 
feeble,” she went on, after trying for a half-mo- 
ment to count the pulse-beats in her own wrist. 
“ I am more and more certain that I must have a 
nurse to watch my pulse and look out every mo- 
ment for draughts. Yes, I really must ask you 
now to see about a nurse,” added Miss Virginia, 
clasping one large hand over the other wrist to 
keep track of her heart-beats. 

Ruth Warren consulted the doctor. 

“ Your aunt doesn’t need a nurse any more than 
you or I need one,” he said, gruffly. “ Better have 
one, though, and I will order her to open the win- 
dows every hour of the day. We will give your 
aunt a little training, and it may do her good.” 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 187 


As a result of this conversation, and of a plan 
which she found she could carry out, Ruth Warren 
called a few days later at Mrs. Danforth’s. 

“ Mrs. Danforth isn’t very well to-day, miss, 
and she asks will you come up to her room, please,” 
said Cummings; so Ruth Warren followed the 
stiff-backed maid up the polished stairs. From the 
top of the stairs she saw, just ahead, a room all 
furnished in white, which she knew must be Elsa’s, 
“ What an unpretty room for a child ! ” she said 
to herself. 

Mrs. Danforth had on a beautiful white dress- 
ing-gown with long lace ruffles hanging from the 
sleeves, and she was leaning back in a blue velvet 
chair. “ She does not look so ill as unhappy,” 
Ruth Warren thought to herself. 

Not wishing to take any more time than was 
necessary, Ruth Warren began at once to give the 
reason for her call : 

“ Elsa has told me, Mrs. Danforth, of a nurse 
she once had by the name of Bettina March. 
Curiously enough, I find that this same Bettina 
March has quite lately been employed at the Con- 
valescent Home here in Berkeley. She was very 
much liked, but she was not strong, and went away, 
hoping to return. She is not yet able to take up 


188 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


the work, and she is anxious to find some occupa- 
tion which will give her, for a time, less active 
duties/’ 

“Well, and what of it?” inquired Mrs. Dan- 
forth coldly, fixing her eyes upon her visitor’s face. 
She and Miss Ruth had exchanged calls formally; 
that was all the acquaintance they had, save a 
chance meeting, now and then. 

“ I should not have intruded upon you with a 
personal matter, Mrs. Danforth, except for good 
reason,” Ruth Warren said quietly. “ My Aunt 
Virginia, who, as you know, lives with me, feels the 
need of having a nurse ; it will be an easy position 
and one which Bettina March can easily fill, as my 
aunt is by no means very ill. I came to ask if 
you have any objection to my engaging Bettina 
March?” 

“ Is it that you wish to inquire of me in regard 
to Bettina March’s character?” demanded Mrs. 
Danforth. “ I know nothing against her.” 

Now Mrs. Danforth was accustomed to have 
people a little afraid of her. She was rather sur- 
prised, therefore, to find that Ruth Warren did not 
show any embarrassment, but went on, in a quite 
simple and perfectly self-possessed manner, to say: 
“ It is not that, Mrs. Danforth. The head-nurse 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 189 


at the Convalescent Home has satisfied me entirely 
with regard to the woman’s character. It is only 
on Elsa’s account that I have come to you.” 

“ Why should I object to your employing Bet- 
tina March on Elsa’s account?” Mrs. Danforth 
made things as hard as she could for Ruth Warren. 

“ Because my house is next to yours, and Elsa 
has told me that you were unwilling to have her 
keep up any acquaintance with her old nurse,” Ruth 
Warren replied, in the same even-toned voice. 

Mrs. Danforth felt now obliged to explain. 
“ Bettina March was nurse to Elsa’s mother dur- 
ing her last illness, and after the mother died 
stayed on with Elsa until her father died. I felt 
that the child was growing too dependent on the 
woman. Elsa is almost entirely without relatives. 
Her mother was an only child, and her father had 
only one brother, Mr. Ned Danforth. If he should 
marry, or if I should die, Elsa would be quite alone 
in the world and she would need to be self-reliant. 
I did not think she was a child who would talk 
over my affairs,” Mrs. Danforth remarked haugh- 
tily. 

Ruth Warren could not let Elsa stand in a false 
light before her grandmother’s eyes. Therefore 


190 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


she suddenly decided to tell the story of the child’s 
grief over the giving away of her doll. 

The coldness of Mrs. Danforth’s blue eyes gave 
way, little by little, to a softer expression as Ruth 
Warren described Elsa’s visit to her, that late eve- 
ning. 

“ So she was brave enough to go out of the 
house alone at night, and she kept the loss of the 
doll from me for fear it would hurt my feelings,” 
said Mrs. Danforth half to herself, toying with a 
silver paper-cutter the while. “Of course I did not 
know that the child cared anything about the doll.” 

“ That is what Elsa said,” returned Ruth War- 
ren, quite eagerly now. Then she went on in a 
lower tone : “ Elsa seems to me a keenly sensitive, 
thoughtful and affectionate-natured little girl, but 
very much repressed. As I have observed her — 
her shyness and her pale face — I cannot help 
thinking that what she needs more than anything 
else is to have some love shown her, and to feel 
free to show her own affection.” Ruth Warren 
rose to go, feeling that perhaps she had said too 
much. 

“ Wait a moment,” said Mrs. Danforth, not un- 
kindly. “ You mean to tell me that I am too severe 
with the child ? ” She remembered, with an un- 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 191 


comfortable feeling, that Mrs. White had said 
much the same thing. 

“ Not too severe in the matter of discipline, but 
— ” Ruth Warren left the sentence unfinished. 

“ On the whole, I thank you, Miss Warren,” 
said Mrs. Danforth slowly. “ I am sure you have 
Elsa's best interest at heart. I am grateful to you 
for taking charge of the little Club. It has made 
me feel safe in regard to her. Do you think that 
the Holt children are perfectly suitable companions 
for Elsa, in every way ? ” she asked suddenly. 

“ They are perfectly suitable companions for any 
children, I am sure,” Ruth Warren said warmly. 
“ They are charming little children, well-trained 
and gentle-mannered. The boy is mischievous, but 
he is perhaps all the more likeable for his liveliness, 
and he is very manly with his mother and his little 
sister. I have seen the mother several times, and 
I have never met a more attractive or charming 
woman, — or a braver woman.” 

A quick flush reddened Mrs. Danforth’s face, 
then died away as suddenly as it came. Reaching 
out a trembling hand, she rang for her maid, who 
appeared as if she had risen out of the blue velvet 
carpeted floor. 

“ Cummings, some water,” said Mrs. Danforth, 


192 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


with an evident effort. Then she leaned back 
against her chair and closed her eyes. 

Ruth Warren had started to leave the room, 
but fearing lest Mrs. Danforth should faint, she 
stood waiting for Cummings to return. 

As she waited, she noticed, half unconsciously 
at first, then with a quick start of interest, an oil- 
painting hanging upon the softly tinted wall, back 
of Mrs. Danforth’s chair, — an oil-painting of a 
large, gable-windowed house, exactly like the one 
at Mrs. Holt’s. Ruth Warren remembered it par- 
ticularly because of one small red-leaved maple tree 
at the left hand corner of the picture ; and she also 
remembered Elsa’s exclamation over Mrs. Holt’s 
picture. She looked again at Mrs. Danforth’s 
white, set face, and a haunting resemblance flashed 
through her mind, leaving her fairly bewildered. 

Just then Cummings came in with a glass of 
water. Mrs. Danforth opened her eyes, drank the 
water, and appeared instantly better. “ I have 
these dizzy attacks once in a while, Miss Warren,” 
she said in her usual stately manner, “ but they 
pass off quickly. I am sorry this happened while 
you were here. Thank you for coming. I am sure 
you will find Bettina March a very useful woman.” 

Then Ruth Warren, turning many things Over 


A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 193 


in her mind, went home, leaving Mrs. Danforth 
to her pride and loneliness. 

It had chanced that, coming from a drive by way 
of Berkeley Avenue the day before, and having 
Elsa with her, Mrs. Danforth had met a young, 
fair-haired, plainly dressed woman walking along 
slowly between a boy and a girl who' looked very 
much alike, although the boy was the taller. 

Mrs, Holt had been to the shops that afternoon 
with her children, and in the basket which Ben was 
carrying so carefully, were the precious Christmas 
remembrances they had bought for the dear father 
out in Colorado. Mrs. Holt’s face was unusually 
sad, for this would be the first Christmas that she 
had ever been parted from her husband, and she felt 
the separation more and more keenly as the days 
drew near to Christmas. 

Elsa had leaned forward and waved eagerly be- 
hind the closed window of the coupe. The twins 
had smilingly waved their hands in turn. The 
tired-looking, sad-faced mother, in bowing to Elsa, 
had given a sudden, startled look at Mrs. Danforth. 

The encounter had been over in a half -moment, 
for the strong gray horse was going swiftly toward 
home. 

“ It is Alice and Ben and their mother, grand- 


194 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS' CLUB 


mother/’ Elsa had cried excitedly. “ Don’t you 
remember about ‘ Sweet Alice and Ben Bolt ? ’ 
Only their name is Holt.” 

Fearing that her grandmother’s silence meant 
reproof, Elsa had looked around. Mrs. Danforth 
was sitting very white-faced and rigid, against the 
coupe cushions. She did not speak again during 
the drive. 

This was the first time that Mrs. Danforth and 
Mrs. Holt had met, face to face, in Berkeley; and 
it was the memory of this meeting, which Mrs. 
Danforth could not put out of her mind, that kept 
her in her own room the next day. Through shut- 
ting out love from her life, Mrs. Danforth had 
burnt her heart almost to ashes. 


CHAPTER VI 

THE BOY IN THE CLUB 

You hear that boy laughing? You think he’s all fun? 

But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

EN HOLT, driving slowly along the 
main business street of Berkeley, Fri- 
day morning, about half past nine 
o’clock, stopped his horse as he saw 
the tall figure and met the gray eyes of Elsa Dan- 
forth’s uncle. 

“ Good morning, sir,” the boy said, jumping 
from the sleigh with a sudden inspiration. “ I 
would like to ask your advice, sir,” he added, dif- 
fidently. 

Mr. Dan forth had instantly recognized the boy 
of the Club. “ Well, Ben, my boy; what is it 
about ? ” he asked in his quick way of speaking. 

Ben’s usually cheerful face was very sober and 
earnest. Mr. Dan forth noticed on the seat of the 
sleigh a queer-shaped bundle covered with what 
195 



196 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


looked suspiciously like a blue-and-white flannel 
night-shirt. 

“What do you want my advice about? Christ- 
mas presents?” the tall man asked kindly, seeing 
that the boy found some difficulty in making his 
request. 

“ No, sir, it isn’t Christmas presents,” Ben re- 
plied sadly, taking a few steps forward and putting 
his arm around Jerry’s long nose. “ I am going 
to run away, sir; but I had promised to give five 
of the little Convalescings a sleigh-ride this morn- 
ing, at eleven o’clock, and I’ve been trying to find 
some safe fellow — man,” said Ben, correcting 
himself, — “ who will take them for me, somebody 
the head-nurse will trust. Do you suppose you 
could do it ? ” The boy looked up with such a wist- 
ful expression that Mr. Danforth felt quite 
touched, although he felt also, that Ben was look- 
ing him over very carefully and trying to decide 
whether the head-nurse would approve of him. 
“ You could leave Jerry at my house when you 
come home ; it’s not a very long ways to walk back 
to Elsa’s. Of course I — I couldn’t tell mother 
of mine that — that I was going to run away.” 
Ben’s face showed that he was very miserable. 

“ Let me get into the sleigh with you and we will 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


197 


talk it over,” Mr. Dan forth said, stepping in 
quickly. Ben sprang in at the other side and 
pushed the blue-and-white flannel bundle to the 
floor, under the seat. 

“ Now, first of all, tell me why you are going to 
run away?” Mr. Danforth inquired in such a 
friendly, sympathetic tone that Ben could not help 
opening his heart at once. 

“ I want to earn a lot of money, sir. You see, 
my father’s away teaching, and he isn’t very well, 
so he can’t send us much money. And mother — 
mother has to buy so many things, she was count- 
ing on her fingers last night, — coal, and things 
to eat, and clothes, and pay the hired man, and pay 
the rent, and she just gets all the fingers paid off 
and she has to begin again. She spent her last 
money yesterday for coal, and she won’t have any 
more till the first of January, and I can’t stand it, 
sir; I’ve got to earn some money to help her.” 
Ben turned aside with a sound very much like a 
sob, but which of course must not be heard from 
a boy who was going to run away. Bravely facing 
ahead again after a moment he added : “I want 
to earn a lot of money, so that mother won’t have 
to work so hard and so that we can go and live 
with father.” 


198 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

“ Do you help your mother any now?” Mr. 
Dan forth inquired in the same quick, sympathetic 
voice. 

“ Yes, sir, a little; I feed and take care of the 
hens and I do errands and shovel snow and help 
with the market-garden, and I talk over things 
with mother, and I take the Convalescings out dri- 
ving pleasant Saturday mornings and vacations.” 
Ben named everything he could think of, for he 
wanted to prove that he was a capable and trusty 
boy. He looked up, anxiously : “ Maybe, as you 
live in the city, you could tell me where to begin 
work?” 

“ Who will do' all those things for your mother 
if you run away, Ben? ” came the next question. 

“ Why — she can hire a boy with the money I 
send,” Ben answered, miserably. 

“ I wouldn’t run away just yet, Ben, if I were 
you,” said Mr. Danforth very gravely. “ Your 
mother might get used to that other boy. Boys 
who run away always want to come back home, 
and once in awhile their fathers and mothers 
won’t let them come back, but send them off to 
some institution. Think it over awhile, Ben, It’s 
queer, but you are the very boy I wanted to see this 
morning.” 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


199 


Ben turned questioningly toward his companion. 
There was a keen, clear sparkle in Mr. Dan f orth’s 
gray eyes, and good-humoured lines around his 
firm mouth. 

“ What do you say to our spending a part of the 
morning at that wonderful hut near your house, 
which Elsa has told me about? We can talk some 
more of your running away, and I want your ad- 
vice about a Christmas surprise for the Club.” 

Seeing the hesitation which yet remained in 
Ben’s earnest blue eyes, Mr. Danforth continued: 
“ Now, Ben, I have given you my advice, and it’s 
only fair that you should give me yours. I think 
I shall want to hire you and your horse some day 
next week, and I will pay you fifty cents an hour, 
and for this morning’s time, too.” 

“ Jerry’s a fine horse to work, because he’s so 
steady, sir,” replied Ben, yielding by slow degrees. 
“ But the Convalescings expect me at eleven 
o’clock.” 

Jerry had turned, unheeded by Ben, into Berke- 
ley Avenue and was jogging quite spiritedly in the 
direction of home. 

“ It is not ten o’clock yet,” said Mr. Danforth, 
taking out his watch. “ You can help me an hour 


200 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


and then keep your engagement with the children. 
I wouldn’t have you disappoint them.” 

“ All right, sir,” Ben said, more cheerfully than 
he had yet spoken, although his face sobered again 
immediately as he added : “ I’ll leave my bundle 
in the hut, then it will be ready any time I decide 
to start. Of course, I’d lots rather earn some 
money and stay at home. But it’s sorrowful-like, 
sir, to see your mother needing money so much.” 
Again Ben turned aside his face, and when Mr. 
Danforth kindly looked the other way, the boy 
drew his red-mittened hand across his eyes. 

Any one who had been near the log hut in the 
tall pine woods not far from Ben’s home that morn- 
ing, would have seen a broad-shouldered man in a 
heavy winter overcoat and a slip of a boy in a 
tight blue reefer jacket sitting in the warm sun- 
shine on the sheltered platform of the hut, very 
earnestly talking together and advising one an- 
other, while old Jerry, blanketed carefully, stood 
near by without being hitched, and overhead, dusky 
crows and gleaming blue- jays chattered vigorously, 
a gray chickadee or a downy woodpecker occasion- 
ally putting in a word. 

Mr. Ned Danforth had surprised and delighted 
his niece Elsa almost beyond bounds by appearing 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


201 


in Berkeley the evening before, and announcing 
that he should stay at least until Christmas, a whole 
week. 

After his father, Judge Danforth, had died, and 
after the death of Elsa’s father a few months later, 
Mr. Ned Danforth had agreed with his stepmother 
that it was wise for her to close her New York 
home, and also that Berkeley was a good place for 
motherless and fatherless Elsa to live in. Some 
day, when his little niece should become a young 
lady, Mr. Danforth hoped to have her live with 
him. He had missed the child greatly, indeed, out 
of his New York life, and his flying visit to Berke- 
ley of a few weeks ago — the first time he had 
seen Elsa since September — had caused him to 
wonder whether she was wholly happy in her life 
alone with Mrs. Danforth, although the child made 
no complaint. 

It was particularly to set his mind at rest upon 
this point that he had told Elsa he would pay her 
fifty cents a week if she would write a four-page 
letter to him twice a week ; for he felt that in these 
letters she would probably tell him freely just what 
he wanted to know. Before this, Elsa had written 
him once a week, and always a short letter, saying 
that grandmother was well and she was well; that 


202 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


school was pleasant because she liked her school 
girl friends; that Berkeley was a pretty place and 
the weather was growing colder; that she missed 
him ever and ever so much, and was his affectionate 
little niece, Elsa. 

But the first long letter he received had run thus : 

“Dearest Uncle Ned: — 

“ Grandmother is well and so am I. O, I am 
so glad you came to see me. Pleas come again 
soon. School is most over and I am sorry for I 
shall miss seeing my little girl friends. Grand- 
mother does not like to have little girls come to 
see me. She lets me go to the Club though. Miss 
Ruth is lovely. I take a red rose to her most every 
day and she puts it in to a tall green glass vase 
in her window so I see it when I go to bed and 
it doesent make me feel so lonesum. I shall be 
sorry when school closes because it will seem lone- 
summer to eat breakfast and supper alone. It is 
a very nice nayborhood. Miss Ruth is busy most 
of the time taking care of her poor sick aunt who 
doesent like children I guess because she told us 
to go right away children one day she had asked 
the club to go up stairs to see her. Betty White 
has the beautifulest ^nursery to sleep in you ever 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


203 


saw it makes me think of very interesting picture 
book or a Jacobs coat of many colors. Bettys 
mother lets her decide things. I wish grand- 
mother would let me. I wish grandmother would 
let me have some pink or blue paper on my room. 
It is all so white. I feels if I slept out doors in 
snow. 

“ I am reading David Copperfield. I think it 
is a very good and interesting book and it is so real 
and true. I like Agnes W. better than any car- 
acter and I think D. C. is sorry he fell in love with 
Dora and I wish he had more courage when he is 
with Urriah H and tell U. H. that he is a sneak 
and coward and give him a blow or two. I like 
Mr. Peggotty and Ham and Peggotty and Aunt 
Bettesy Trotwood and I also like Mr. Dick and all 
two gether it is a fine book. Will you tell me the 
name of a book to read next because when school 
closes I will have to read to' keep from being lone- 
sum like September when I first came. This is four 
pages and I wish you would come to see your poor 
lonesum Elsa. 

“ P. S. dont forget about the hut. 

“ P. S. David was so crushed and frightened 
when he was little and had no good times. I think 
he hasent got over it yet.” 


204 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Mr. Danforth had decided from this and just 
such another long letter, that his little niece was 
leading a lonely and repressed life with her grand- 
mother, and that it was this fact which was ma- 
king the child pale-faced and hollow-eyed, rather 
than the school-life, as Mrs. Danforth had sug- 
gested. So when the head of the banking-house to 
which he belonged decided to' establish a branch 
office in the large city near Berkeley, Mr. Danforth 
at once agreed to take charge of it. What were 
New York clubs and big dinners in comparison 
with the welfare and happiness of one little pa- 
thetic, gray-eyed, “ lonesum ” girl? 

And this was the reason of Mr. Ned Danf orth’s 
being in Berkeley, although he had not as yet told 
Elsa that he would soon come to stay permanently. 

Thursday had been the last day of the school 
term, and this Friday would be the last meeting 
of the Club before Christmas. Ben and Alice had 
called for Betty at half-past two o’clock. Mrs. 
White had with difficulty kept them and Betty from 
starting for Ruth Warren’s before three o’clock. 

The moment Elsa, watching from the hall-win- 
dow, saw the little group leave Betty’s house, she 
sped like an arrow to join them, having been ready 
for the last half-hour. 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


205 


It was a merry, excited group of four children 
who ran up the front steps of the Warren house 
very promptly at three o’clock on the afternoon of 
December 18. Elsa had forgotten all about being 
sorry that school had closed, now that Uncle Ned 
had come; Ben had forgotten all about his intense 
desire to run away from home; Alice had forgot- 
ten all about the cold which had kept her from the 
last Club meeting, and Betty, on her part, had for- 
gotten pretty nearly all that she had learned in 
school the last term; indeed, she had almost for- 
gotten that there ever was any school. 

The open fire was burning brightly; the five 
unfinished sets of paper dolls, the paints and the 
brushes were ready on the table; and Miss Ruth, 
in her golden-brown, fur-trimmed gown,, welcomed 
the Club with a feeling of real pleasure in having 
all these lively children coming to her house. She 
was heartily glad her Aunt Virginia had decided 
that she liked the children’s noise, for Ben came 
in with an unmistakable “ Whoop ! ” and cried out, 
“ No more school ! ” and the other children began 
talking rapidly. 

“ May I bring my Christmas presents and keep 
them here?” questioned Betty. “ Max and Janet 
find every single thing I hide away.” 


206 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ My Uncle Ned has come to stay till Christ- 
mas,” exclaimed Elsa ; “ he’s gone to the city this 
afternoon, or maybe I shouldn’t have wanted to 
come even to the Club ! ” 

“ I’ve brought back the two sets of paper dolls 
you sent for me to paint,” piped in Alice. “ And 
Ben’s brought something to show you.” 

Thereupon Ben opened the box he had in his 
hand, and blushing with pride, showed the Club 
ten tops he had carved, carefully and well, painted 
with bright colours. “ They are for the Convales- 
cings,” he explained when the girls gave him a 
chance to speak ; “ and I think I’ll have time to 
make a few more.” 

“ Mamma is making some of the beautifulest 
rag dolls,” exclaimed Alice enthusiastically. 

v< We must finish painting the paper dolls this 
afternoon,” cried Betty, “ for just think, Christmas 
comes a week from to-day.” 

“ Can we take the dolls out to the Convalescent 
Home, Miss Ruth? ” Elsa asked, with shining eyes. 

“ Yes, we can all go there Christmas morning. 
I have arranged that with Miss Hartwell. With 
the dolls Mrs. Holt is making, and ours, we shall 
have enough to give a doll to every little girl there; 
and with Ben’s tops and some tin soldiers which 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


207 


I am going to provide for the boys, we shall have 
something for every boy.” 

“ O, goody ! ” exclaimed Betty, while Elsa and 
Alice clapped their hands, and Ben turned a somer- 
sault on the hearth-rug. 

“ Now please finish' the story, Miss Ruth,” said 
Betty. “ You left off where Ruth’s grandmother 
— I mean your grandmother — was going to let 
you go to see the little old lady the next morning.” 

Betty, Alice, and Elsa immediately drew their 
chairs up to the table, and chose their paint-brushes, 
ready to begin on the paper dolls. But Ben re- 
mained standing before the fireplace, and, after 
putting one hand in his pocket to make sure he had 
not lost the two silver quarter dollars he had earned 
that morning, he clasped his hands behind him. 
Ben was dreadfully hungry, for he had been out- 
doors all the morning, and even the good dinner 
he had eaten since then had left his appetite un- 
satisfied. He forgot that Miss Ruth always had 
something for the Club to eat, so he looked very 
steadily at her and asked frankly : “ Please, Black 
Lace Lady, have you got any crackers or cookies? 
I’m hungry as two bears, and I’d a good deal rather 
ask right out for something to eat than hint for it.” 

“ Why, Ben Holt ! ” gasped Alice, whose cheeks 


208 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


turned a very deep pink in a moment. She came 
and laid her chubby hand on Ruth Warren’s arm: 
“ Excuse him, please, Miss Ruth. He knows bet- 
ter.” Alice felt dreadfully ashamed of Ben. 

Ruth Warren stroked Alice’s hand affection- 
ately: “ Never mind, dear. I ought to know better 
than to keep a hungry boy waiting for something 
to eat. Sarah has made some plum buns for you.” 

“ The same as we had for our first meeting ! ” 
cried Betty, tossing her hair out of her eyes. 

“ Yes, because Peggy brought some to me,” Ben 
said. “ Here they are now,” he exclaimed, looking 
up engagingly into Sarah Judd’s face as she came 
through the library doorway, in her stiffest starched 
white apron, carrying a very large plate piled high 
with crisp plum buns. 

“ Thank you, ma’am,” Ben said with a polite 
bow. Stepping forward, he took the plate from 
Sarah, and passed it first to Miss Ruth, then to the 
girls. 

Sarah stood still, watching anxiously. “ They 
are pretty crumby,” she said, looking from the plate 
to the floor, “ and — ” but as she caught Miss 
Ruth’s eye, she stopped; then, drawing a long 
breath like a sigh, she said heroically: “ Never 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


209 


mind the crumbs, little folks; I’m a-goin’ to sweep 
to-morrow.” 

“ I think you are very, very good to the Club, 
Sarah,” said Betty. 

“ Thank you, oh, thank you,” cried Elsa, with 
thoughtful courtesy, while little Alice smiled and 
looked more than ever like a dimple-faced doll. 

Sarah’s curls were bobbing excitedly as she went 
out of the room, saying under her breath : “ The 
cunnin’ little dears ! ” 

“ Please, please , the story now,” entreated Betty. 

“ Guess I won’t paint to-day,” Ben announced. 
“ May I lie down by the fire again? ” 

“ Yes, — take a cushion and take some buns, 
Ben,” Ruth Warren answered, moving her chair 
aside. 

“ Let me do that,” said Ben, springing instantly 
to help. 

“ Thank you,” returned Miss Ruth. Then, seat- 
ing herself, she said : “ Now I will go on with the 
story.” 

By nine o’clock the next morning, I was teasing 
my grandmother to let me start for Miss Dean’s. 
But it was almost eleven before Jenny, the cook, 


210 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


had the broth and little cakes and jelly in a basket 
for me to carry to Miss Dean. I remember hurry- 
ing so fast over the uneven, snowy street that I 
spilled some of the broth. 

Miss Dean saw me coming and opened the front 
door the moment I set foot on the top step. She 
was dressed in a soft gray cloth gown and she 
looked ever so much better than she had the day 
before, in fact her cheeks were quite pink and her 
eyes sparkled as she said : “I thought that as I had 
been ill and you were coming again to see me, we 
would have a party; and I have invited Susie to 
the party.” 

The bedroom — or the sitting-room as it really 
was except in winter — looked very cozy. Miss 
Dean had spread a bright-coloured silk patchwork 
quilt over the bed, and there in the little rocking- 
chair, near by, sat Susie in a white muslin dress 
looped up with tiny pink rosebuds over a blue satin 
skirt. 

“ That is Susie's ball costume,” Miss Dean said ; 
“ I didn’t show it to you yesterday because I felt 
it might be wrong to let you know that I approved 
of balls and dancing; but I decided to-day that it 
wouldn’t do any harm. My mother didn’t like to 
have me learn to dance, but I don’t see anything 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


211 


wrong in Susie's going to parties and balls, just 
to look on, anyway." 

My eyes had travelled from Susie to the black- 
and gold lacquered box, which now stood upon the 
low table by the side of Susie’s chair. I think Miss 
Dean must have seen me looking at it, for in a 
moment she said : 

“ I felt so bad to think I forgot to give you that 
box yesterday. That is one reason I am having 
the party to-day. Take it now, to please a little old 
lady." As she handed it to me, I remember she 
said, “ My, how your eyes dance, child ! " 

I opened the box, and found inside two smaller 
black and gold lacquered boxes that just fitted the 
space. The first one I opened had in it a beautiful 
coral necklace — 

“ The one you have on now ? " cried Betty, drop- 
ping her paint-brush and coming to Miss Ruth’s 
side. 

“ Yes, the very one," Miss Ruth answered. 
fi You have quick eyes, Betty.’’ 

Elsa and the twins crowded around to look at 
the exquisitely cut, pinkish-red coral necklace. 

“What was in the other box?’’ Betty asked. 
“ It seems to me I can’t wait to hear ! ” 


212 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

“ The other box proved to be a dainty work-box 
with an ivory thimble, ivory-handled scissors and 
an ivory-covered needle-book. As I told you, Miss 
Dean’s father had been a sea-captain, and he had 
brought these things from a foreign country.” 

“ Have you kept the boxes, Miss Ruth ? ” Elsa 
asked shyly. 

“Yes,” replied Miss Ruth: “I have the large 
box and the two smaller boxes.” 

“ O, do show them to us, please,” Betty en- 
treated. The others waited with greatest inter- 
est. 

“ I thought you might like to see them, so I 
brought them down.” Ruth Warren rose and took 
from a drawer of her writing-desk a richly lac- 
quered box ; and the girls, with Ben, spent the next 
few moments in examining and admiring the big 
box, the smaller boxes, and the dainty ivory articles. 

“ I brought down something else to show you,” 
Miss Ruth said. “ Can you guess what ? ” 

“ A stuffed Arctic owl,” suggested Ben, taking 
a fresh supply of plum buns while he was up. 

“ O, Ben! Can’t you think of anything but birds 
and horses and hens’ eggs ! ” cried Betty. 

“ Yes, — I think of the poor little Convales- 
cings,” said Ben self-defensively. 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


213 


“ I know, I know ! ” exclaimed Elsa, almost 
breathlessly. “ It is Susie ! ” 

“ Elsa has guessed right. It is Susie, — the little 
old lady’s doll,” said Miss Ruth, going to the tall 
mahogany bookcase which wholly filled one side of 
the room. The children followed her and watched 
with closest attention while she took from a lower 
shelf a large white box. Unrolling the stout white 
paper covering, she opened the box-cover, took out 
the old-fashioned doll, and held her up before the 
children’s eyes. 

Betty was the first to speak. “ What a queer 
old thing,” she said. 

“ O, she has on the ball dress,” cried Alice, tim- 
idly touching one of the tiny pink rosebuds which 
looped up the muslin dress over the blue silk petti- 
coat. 

“ You dear doll ! ” said Elsa softly. 

“ She is kind of quaint and pretty,” Betty said, 
after a good second look. 

Ben gave a low whistle, but said nothing. He 
thought the doll was a beauty. The tiny pink rose- 
buds had won his heart. 

Susie was a china-headed doll, with stiff, un- 
jointed arms. Her black hair, parted and drawn 
down over her ears, her very black eyes, bright red 


214 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


cheeks and rounded mouth gave her an old-time 
appearance both quaint and attractive. 

“ How well you have kept her,” exclaimed Betty. 
Her own dolls had all suffered some misfortune, 
such as broken arms or hairless heads. 

“ I did not have Susie until I was sixteen years 
old,” Miss Ruth said, “ and then I was too' old to 
play with her.” 

“ Do girls have to stop playing with dolls when 
they are sixteen years old ? ” Elsa inquired anx- 
iously. 

“ O no,” Miss Ruth replied ; “ but girls of six- 
teen are usually too busy with study and other 
things to have time for dolls.” 

“ How did you happen to get the old doll ? ” Ben 
asked. He did not mean to be disrespectful; it 
was only a boy’s way of speaking. 

“ That comes at the end of the story,” Miss Ruth 
answered. ' Are you ready for me to go on ? ” 

Everybody said, “ Yes,” and Elsa added : “ I 
will put Susie in a rocking-chair and we can look 
at her and that will make the story seem more real 
than ever.” 

“ That is just the way Miss Dean used to have 
her,” said Miss Ruth, as Elsa placed the doll in a 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


215 


small rocking-chair upon a cushion and drew the 
chair toward the table. 

“ I remember/’ Elsa answered. 

Once more the girls took up their paint-brushes 
and went to work, while Ben stretched himself 
again upon the hearth-rug in his favourite position ; 
and then the story-teller began again : 

Miss Dean had been making ready for our party 
all the morning, I think, because we had so many 
things to eat. She seemed not to want to use any- 
thing which grandmother had sent. First, we had 
hot biscuit and little meat-balls ; then we had choco- 
late frosted cake, currant- jelly tarts and plum pre- 
serves, with hot chocolate to drink. 

“ May we have Susie at the table with us ? ” I 
asked just as we were sitting down; so Miss Dean 
sat Susie on the dictionary in the tallest chair, and 
she put food on a plate for Susie, just as she did 
for me. When I wasn’t looking, Miss Dean slipped 
the food off to a plate on a side table, and then put 
more food in front of the doll, urging her in such 
a pretty way to eat more. I never shall forget how 
young and happy Miss Dean looked that day at 
the table, with such a kind, motherly expression in 
her large brown eyes. 


216 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


We were just eating some preserved ginger and 
drinking the last of our chocolate, and Miss Dean 
was saying : “ I am sure Susie would enjoy com- 
pany very much indeed if she had more of it,” 
when there came a knock at the front door and my 
grandmother walked into the room. She and Miss 
Dean were such near neighbours and good friends 
that when either one called upon the other, she did 
not wait at the door, but walked in. 

Miss Dean rose, greeted my grandmother, and 
then looked at me in such a timid, appealing man- 
ner that I knew she was thinking of Susie and won- 
dering what my grandmother would think of the 
doll being there. 

Grandmother sat down very straight in her chair, 
I remember, and looked around in her pleasant 
way. Her eyesight wasn’t very good. Probably, 
too, she didn’t remember how my own dolls looked. 
For very soon she said : “ I see that Ruth brought 
her doll to have luncheon with you, Phoebe,” — 
grandmother always called Miss Dean by her first 
name. 

I held my breath till Miss Dean answered : 
“ That isn’t Ruth’s doll — yet ; but it is one I am 
going to give her.” 

If grandmother had been looking in my direc- 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


217 


tion, I am sure she would have seen me jump at 
the thought that Susie was to be mine. 

“ How kind of you, Phoebe,” grandmother said. 
“ I hope Ruth has thanked you properly.” 

Miss Dean turned toward me with a helpless 
expression, just as grandmother added : “ Isn’t it 
strange how children always like to make company 
of their dolls and make believe they can eat? ” 

“ I wanted to have Susie at the table,” I said 
eagerly, half ready to cry, because I felt so sorry 
for Miss Dean. 

“ So you have named the doll Susie,” grand- 
mother said. 

Miss Dean turned to me again with that dis- 
tressed look in her brown eyes. 

“ No,” I said, “ that was Miss Dean’s name for 
her, but I like it.” And after that, grandmother 
began talking about something else. Her visit was 
short. When she went, she said : “ Come home 
soon, Ruth, or you will be tiring Miss Phoebe, and 
don’t forget to thank her prettily for the doll.” 

After closing the door behind grandmother, Miss 
Dean all of a sudden dropped into a chair. “ I 
was going to give the doll to* you, anyway, Ruth,” 
she said, hardly above a whisper. The pink colour 
had all gone out of her face. 


218 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ O no ! ” I said, — the way children do when 
they want a thing very much and know they ought 
not to’ take it. 

“ But I have told your grandmother that I was 
going to give the doll to you.” Miss Dean’s voice 
trembled now, and the next moment I saw her 
brown eyes fill with tears. 

“ I have ever so many dolls,” I cried, naming 
over six or seven, “ and really, Miss Dean, I would 
rather have Susie here, because it will be all the 
nicer when I come to see you.” I remember think- 
ing so just then, because Miss Dean was unhappy 
about it. 

“ What will your grandmother think of me? 
what will she think of me?” Miss Dean spoke 
with a real sob in her voice. 

Then I knew more surely than before that I 
must not take Susie away. I petted Miss Dean 
and talked and talked until she dried her eyes and 
asked me if I didn’t want to try Susie’s dresses on 
again, SO' that I would be used to her ways, as long 
as she was truly going to be mine some day. 

I remember that about as fast as Miss Dean 
began to feel better I began to feel worse. While 
she put away the food and the dishes in that clean, 
dainty kitchen, I played with the doll, dressing and 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


219 


undressing her; and when I finally pinned the little 
red shawl over the white nightgown, I am sure two 
or three of my tears fell upon Susie. Then I knew 
it was time for me to be going home. 

“ Are you perfectly sure you don’t want to take 
Susie? ” Miss Dean asked me at the door. 

“ I want you to have her more ! ” I called back. 
I could not say another word, so I started and ran 
for home, hugging the black-and-gold lacquered 
box under my arm: I had entirely forgotten to 
show that to grandmother while she was there- 

Grandmother was so interested in the box that 
she seemed to forget all about the doll. But I went 
to see Miss Dean and Susie almost every day. I 
had a queer feeling about that doll, — she was mine 
and yet she wasn’t. Perhaps I actually enjoyed 
her more that way. Once in awhile I found Miss 
Dean making new dresses for Susie; and then she 
always said : “ I want your doll to have a lot of 
pretty clothes to wear.” 

It happened that my father and mother came 
home from California unexpectedly and sent for 
me to join them, and I was hurried off without 
time even to say good-bye to Miss Dean and Susie. 
It must have been two months after that when I 
received a letter from Miss Dean. She wrote about 


220 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


her spring chickens and her garden, chiefly, but at 
the end of the letter she said, “ Susie misses you 
very much. She grows prettier every day.” 

When I read this letter to my mother, she asked : 
“ Who is Susie ? Some little girl who lives with 
Miss Dean ? ” 

“ O no,” I said, “ Susie is a doll, and she is going 
to be mine some day.” 

Mother didn’t ask any more questions. She only 
said “ Oh ! ” in a funny way. 

After that, little by little, I forgot about the doll. 
Grandmother came to live with us, so I didn’t visit 
her again. But when I was sixteen years old, and 
had given up playing with dolls, a big bundle came 
to me by express one day, and in it was Susie 
dressed in a brown travelling suit. All her other 
clothes were in the bundle. Miss Dean had died, 
and had left directions to have the bundle sent to 
me. With it was a note which Miss Dean had 
written. 

“Have you kept the note?” Betty asked curi- 
ously. The three girls had finished all the painting 
and had quietly drawn around the fire, during the 
last few moments. 

“ Yes; here it is.” From a yellowed envelope on 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 221 

her desk, Ruth Warren drew forth a small sheet of 
paper and read : 

“ Dear Little Ruth : — 

“ When this reaches you, Susie will go with it. 
She has really been yours ever since that day of 
our party, and I thank you gratefully for letting 
me keep her. I have loved her dearly. Some of 
us poor lonely old folks are not much more than 
grown-up children. I know you will have a happy 
time playing with her, and when you are ready 
to give her away, I hope it will be to some little 
girl who will love her as fondly as you and I love 
her. Your affectionate friend, 

“ Phcebe Dean.” 

“ What a dear story ! ” sighed Elsa. “ And how 
much the poor little old lady must have cared for 
Susie.” 

“ You have kept all her dresses?” inquired 
Betty, eying the doll with new interest. 

“ Yes. When the doll first came, I dressed her 
in the ball gown, because that was what she had 
on when Miss Dean really gave her to me. Since 
then I have thought very little about her. Perhaps 
I shall keep her and have her for company when I 


222 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


grow old, just as Miss Dean had her. Or perhaps 
we might dress her in a newer fashion and give 
her to one of the Convalescent children.” 

“ O no! no!” objected the girls as with one 
voice. “ She is different : — they will like other 
dolls just as much,” little Alice added. 

“ She is best in her own old-fashioned dresses,” 
Elsa said thoughtfully, “ because she has such a 
dear old-fashioned face.” 

“ And then Miss Dean wanted you to give her 
to the little girl who would love her the most,” 
Betty remarked. 

“ I wonder who that would be? ” Elsa said wist- 
fully, as if she were thinking out loud. 

“ I’m not the one,” exclaimed Ben, jingling his 
silver quarter dollars. 

“ Of course you are not,” cried Betty. “ You 
are only the boy in the Club.” 

Betty and Ben were so constantly on the border 
of friendly warfare that Ruth Warren thought it 
better to change the subject. “ Children,” she said 
quickly, beginning to gather the envelopes of paper 
dolls into a pile, “ we have just time enough left 
to name these dolls. There are twelve of them, 
and each of you may choose three names. I will 
write the names on the envelopes. We will let 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 223 

Ben choose his names first. Will you begin, 
Ben? ” 

Ben looked very hard into the fire for a moment. 

“ Hurry up, Ben,” Alice said, giving him a sis- 
terly poke with her foot. 

“ All right, Peggy,” he said, holding the toe of 
her shoe affectionately. “ I’m ready. Katrina for 
the princess in the Gray Owl story, Alice for my 
mother and for Peggy, and Ruth for you ; ” he 
turned toward Miss Ruth with one of his comical 
little bows. 

The girls clapped their hands and Ruth Warren 
bowed in return to Ben as she said : “ Now, Alice 
next. We will go from the youngest on.” 

“ I will name my three Love and Hope and 
Thankful.” Alice spoke in a low tone and moved 
a little nearer to Ben. 

But the Club was listening so closely that every 
one heard. “ What funny names ! ” was Betty's 
comment, as Miss Ruth wrote them down. 

“ Mamma has told me stories about old, old 
ladies she knew of with those names,” Alice ex- 
plained. 

“ Are they all right names ? ” she asked anx- 
iously, turning her large blue eyes upon Ruth War- 


ren. 


224 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

“ Yes, dear, they are good, old-fashioned names, 
and they go well with the old lady and the old doll 
we have just been talking about. What are your 
names, Betty ? ” 

“ Rose and Rosamond and Julia,” Betty an- 
swered quickly, her mind being all made up. 

“ Good.” Ruth Warren had these down in a 
half moment. “And now Elsa?” 

Elsa named her list with a little pause between 
each name : “ Phoebe, — for Miss Dean. Agnes, 
— for the Agnes in ‘ David Copperfield ’ ” — 
Elsa’s first grown-up book had made a great im- 
pression upon her : “ Ruth, — for you.” The child 
looked very lovingly from under her long dark 
lashes at Miss Ruth. 

“ But we have one Ruth. Ben chose that,” ob- 
jected Betty half jealously. 

“ Never mind. We can have two of the same 
name,” insisted Elsa spiritedly, although her face 
coloured sensitively from having all eyes turned 
upon her. 

“ None of the Convalescent children will have 
two paper dolls,” said peaceable Alice. 

“ I’d like to have all the dolls named Ruth,” Ben 
said gallantly. 

As Ben did not mind Elsa’s having chosen the 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


225 


same name that he had, Betty did not make any 
further objection. 

“ Please, Miss Ruth, ma’am, Mrs. Danforth to 
see you,” Sarah Judd announced at the library 
door. “ She said she wanted to come right in 
here.” 

The children, not quite realizing, in the half dusk 
of the afternoon light, that Mrs. Danforth was 
close behind Sarah, did not rise until Miss Ruth 
stepped back from the doorway with her visitor. 
Accordingly, Mrs. Danforth had a momentary 
glimpse of them on the hearth-rug, — Betty curled 
up on a cushion, Elsa leaning in her old position 
against the brass fire-stand, Alice and Ben seated 
side by side upon a large, low, old-fashioned otto- 
man in the centre of the rug. The ruddy flames 
lighted up their faces vividly. 

A moment later, the children were standing, — 
all except little Alice, one of whose feet had gone 
to sleep so that she had to kneel upon the otto- 
man. 

Sarah Judd, unnoticed, looked on from the 
shadow of the doorway at the tall, stately woman 
in rich sable furs and heavy silk cloak. 

“ I took the liberty of asking your maid to allow 
me to come where the children were,” Mrs. Dan- 


226 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

forth said in a beautiful but cold voice. “ I wanted 
to see the Club that Elsa talks about so much.” 

“ Pray be seated, Mrs. Danforth ; we are de- 
lighted to see you,” said Ruth Warren, turning to 
stir the fire into a yet brighter glow. “We like 
firelight better than any other light,” she added. 
“ Sit down, children.” 

Mrs. Danforth had seated herself very quickly, 
as her eyes fell upon Alice and Ben. 

Betty curled up again on the cushion. Elsa drew 
a little way back from the fireside into the shadow 
and sat upright upon a chair. Alice, as if spell- 
bound by something in Mrs, Danforth’s face, re- 
mained kneeling upon the ottoman, and Ben stood 
by his sister’s side with his left hand upon her 
shoulder. 

The twins made a striking picture there on the 
hearth-rug in the full light of the blazing fire, — 
Alice, fair-haired, delicate- featured, with great soft 
blue eyes and broad white forehead; Ben with the 
same colouring of hair and complexion, with boy- 
ish, earnest face, frank, handsome blue eyes, slen- 
der figure and well-shaped shoulders. 

“ So, Elsa, these are your friends, Alice and 
Ben?” Mrs, Danforth asked in a slightly unsteady 
voice now, loosening her furs as she spoke. She 



yy 


THE TWINS MADE A STRIKING PICTURE 



THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


227 


looked very white; and Ruth Warren remembered 
that Mrs. Danforth had been ill in her room a few 
days before. 

“ Yes, grandmother,” Elsa’s voice answered out 
of the half-shadow where she was sitting. 

The twins nodded their heads. Alice shyly, and 
Ben quite gravely. “ Are you Elsa’s grand- 
mother ? ” he inquired, fixing his blue eyes upon 
Mrs. Danforth. 

She merely bowed her head, and asked in the 
same rather unsteady voice: “Your last name is 
what? ” 

“ Holt, ma’am, — Alice and Benjamin Frank- 
lin Holt,” the boy answered in his clear, musical 
voice. 

Ruth Warren, seated somewhat back from the 
fireside and closely observing the picture-like group 
upon the rug, could not help thinking that it looked 
as if Alice were kneeling before Mrs. Danforth for 
forgiveness and Ben were standing by her side as 
her champion. 

“ How long have you lived here in Berkeley ? ” 
Mrs. Danforth’s eyes were fixed intently upon Ben. 
She could not bear to look at Alice because of the 
child’s resemblance to a long-ago little Alice. 

“ Since the first of last July, ma’am,” Ben re- 


228 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


plied, manfully meeting the almost stern look in 
the blue eyes bent upon him. 

“ And where did you live before you came 
here?” asked Mrs. Dan, forth sharply. 

“ Grandmother is almost rude to ask so many 
questions,” thought Elsa in her shadowy corner. 
Betty was listening with round, wide-open brown 
eyes. Ruth Warren watched Mrs. Danforth’s face 
now. 

“ We lived out in New York State. Father was 
teaching in a college there,” Ben explained pleas- 
antly : “ his health wasn’t very good, though, so 
he brought us here and stayed a little while, and 
then he had to go to Colorado, for the doctor said 
so. We raise lettuce and things to sell, so that 
father can stay away till he gets better.” 

“ What does your mother do ? ” Mrs. Danforth 
asked in a strangely trembling voice. 

“ Mother ? My mother ? Oh, she helps with 
the garden when she is well enough, and she makes 
some of my clothes and Alice’s dresses and keeps 
’count of all the eggs I sell and — ” he stopped 
short. 

Mrs. Danforth had risen suddenly. Looking 
toward Elsa, she said : “ I want you to come home 
with me now, Elsa. It is five o’clock and the seam- 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 229 

stress has some new frocks to try on to you before 
she goes.” 

Sarah Judd vanished from the hall. 

As if she were weak, Mrs. Dan forth steadied 
herself by the back of the chair, and then turned 
for another look at the blue-eyed boy before the 
fire. 

With a very genuine desire to be a little gentle- 
man, — as his mother always told him to be, — 
Ben did the very best thing in the world which he 
could have done. Stepping forward, though still 
with his hand upon his sister’s shoulder, he looked 
up into Mrs. Dan f orth’s face and said most respect- 
fully : “I think you are a very nice grandmother. 
I wish Alice and I had a grandmother.” 

“ Then you have no grandmother?” she asked 
slowly, with that strange tremble in her voice again, 
and clasping her hands tight together behind the 
long sable boa. 

“We had one, my father’s mother,” Ben an- 
swered soberly, still with his eyes fixed upon her 
face, “but that grandmother has gone away to 
heaven. We don’t know about our other grand- 
mother. Mother says she will tell us about her 
sometime.” 

Mrs. Dan forth made a motion almost as if she 


230 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

would take the little fellow into her arms. Then 
she turned abruptly, not trusting herself to stay 
another moment. 

Suddenly, as she turned, it no longer seemed 
hard for her to begin to carry out the purpose 
which had brought her to Berkeley, for Ben had 
walked straight into her heart, and she knew that 
she could no longer shut love out from her life. 

Elsa followed her grandmother out of the room 
without a word except to say good-bye to the 
Club. 

Ruth Warren found the children in silence when 
she came back from seeing her guest to the door. 
She felt that they were wondering, just as she was, 
whether Mrs. Danforth intended to take Elsa away 
from the Club, and whether it was because the 
twins’ mother worked sometimes in the market- 
garden. 

It was just the right opportunity for Ruth War- 
ren to put to the children a question which she had 
in her mind. She began by telling them about 
Elsa’s loss of her doll, but without speaking of 
Elsa’s night visit. 

“ Poor Elsa,” exclaimed Betty, whose generous 
heart was quickly touched. 

“ Her dearest doll,” sighed Alice, pityingly. 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


231 


Ben, seated on the ottoman again beside his sis- 
ter, put his arm close around her. 

“ If Susie were to be given to any one of you 
three girls, which would you rather should have 
her?” Miss Ruth asked. 

Betty and Alice looked at one another. 

Ben gave Alice a hug and said : “ I vote for 

Elsa’s having the doll, — though you didn’t ask 

me ! ” he added, hanging his head. 

From looking at one another, Betty and Alice 
had turned to look at Susie, who sat on the cushion 
in the chair by the table, just where Elsa had 
placed her. 

Betty was the first to speak: “If Elsa had Susie, 
I know she would let us play with her.” 

Then Alice, generously swallowing her own dis- 
appointment, said : “ Betty has Max and Janet, and 
I have Ben, so I — I think Elsa better have Susie.” 

“ Because she has only her grandmother to live 
with,” put in Betty. 

“ We all agree then,” said Miss Ruth, “ that 
Elsa shall be the one to have the little old lady’s 
doll. We will keep it a secret,” she added, looking 
from one to another of the now bright faces. 
“ We will give the doll to her at Christmas, with 
a note saying it is from all of us.” 


232 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Because she has only a grandmother,” insisted 
Betty, forgetting Elsa’s Uncle Ned. 

Just then they heard the door-bell ring, and a 
moment later, to their great surprise, Elsa came 
running into the library, her gray eyes sparkling 
with delight, her hair in a golden confusion over 
her shoulders. 

“ The seamstress wasn’t quite ready and grand- 
mother said I might come back, and she wants me 
to invite you all to a Christmas-tree at our house 
on Christmas afternoon, and she wants Alice and 
Ben’s mother to come — and Betty’s mother — 
and she says if you will all come — it will be the 
best Christmas in her whole life!” Elsa stopped 
breathlessly, her slender figure quivering with ex- 
citement and joy. 

“ A Christmas-tree ! What fun, what fun ! ” 
cried Betty, jumping up and beginning to dance 
around the room. 

“ Hurrah ! ” exclaimed Ben, giving Alice an 
extra hug. 

“ May we help get it ready, Elsa ? ” Betty asked 
eagerly. In her own home preparing the Christmas 
tree was one of the great events of the year. 

“Yes, yes, I am sure so!” cried Elsa, who in 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 233 

her transport of happiness was ready to promise 
anything. 

Then they all laughed heartily when little Alice 
said slowly, as if the fact had just dawned over her 
mind : “ The Club is going to have a Christmas- 
tree at Elsa’s grandmother’s 1 ” 

“ Bless the blue-eyed baby,” said Betty ; and 
Ruth Warren, stooping to kiss the child’s serious 
upturned face, wondered if Christmas day would 
bring some great change into the lives of Alice and 
Ben. 

“ Do you think your mother will come to the 
Christmas-tree, Alice?” Elsa asked. “ Grand- 
mother said particularly that I was to tell you she 
wants your mother to come.” 

Ben answered for his sister : “ She will come, I 
think, if Peggy and I ask her to. What a splendid 
grandmother you have, Elsa ! ” he cried, starting 
into a sort of war-dance around the room. “ I’m 
going to make a Christmas present for her.” 

“What is it?” asked Betty, curious instantly. 

But Ben was heedless of the question. “ Is she 
very rich ? ” he inquired, looking at Elsa. 

“ Yes, I think so,” replied Elsa. 

“ Then I’ll do it,” he exclaimed, ending his dance 
with a somersault upon the hearth-rug. 


234 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

“What is it?” again asked Betty. 

“ That’s telling,” Ben answered. 

“ It will be something nice,” said Alice, out of 
her perfect faith in her brother. 

Betty, not at all disturbed by Ben’s refusal to 
tell, went on blissfully : “ Then our next meeting 
of the Club will be the Christmas-tree at Elsa’s, 
and we are all going out to the Convalescent 
Home with the presents Christmas morning ! 
Don’t you think we could have just a little meeting 
here next Thursday afternoon, Miss Ruth, to talk 
things over? ” 

Ruth Warren yielded to the entreaty in four 
pairs of eyes: “ Yes, you may come at three o’clock 
for an hour’s meeting, if you like, and we will have 
all the things ready to take to the Convalescent 
Home the next morning.” 

“ I will bring Jerry, Christmas morning, Jerry 
and the double-seated sleigh, to carry you and the 
presents out there,” offered Ben. 

“If any of you have any presents that you want 
to hang on the Christmas-tree for any of the rest 
of you,” said Elsa, diffidently, yet feeling that it 
was something which ought to be said, “ you could 
bring them to my house and I am sure grand- 
mother would take care of them for you.” Elsa’s 


THE BOY IN THE CLUB 


23 5 


few moment’s talk with her grandmother had made 
her feel that she could promise anything in her 
grandmother’s name for Christmas day. 

Ruth Warren seated herself in front of the fire 
for a moment’s thought, after this lively meeting 
of the Club. She was greatly puzzled by Mrs. 
Dan f orth’s excited manner and her unexpected in- 
vitation for Christmas afternoon ; and she was 
deeply interested to see how a little happiness had 
changed Elsa almost instantly into a light-hearted 
child like Betty and Alice. She had decided not to 
tell Elsa, beforehand, that Bettina March was 
coming to be with her Aunt Virginia, as the day 
of the nurse’s arrival was uncertain,, although it 
would probably be Christmas day. 

Her thinking was interrupted by the appearance 
of Sarah Judd, who came to take away the plate, 
which had been entirely emptied of plum buns. 

“ I don’t wonder you’re all tuckered out,” said 
Sarah severely, finding her young mistress sitting 
quietly in front of the fire ; “ such lively children, 
chatterin’ like magpies, — cunnin’ little things, 
though, they be,” she added with one of her sudden 
changes of tone. 

Sarah brushed the crumbs from the table into 


236 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


the plate. Then, because she was so interested in 
the subject that she could not keep silent about it 
another moment, she said : “ Beggin’ your pardon, 
Miss Ruth, but did you notice how like Mrs. Dan- 
forth’s that little twin girl’s eyes and forehead are, 
— a sight more than her own grandchild’s ? ” 

“ Sarah, you are just imagining that,” replied 
Ruth Warren. “ You could only have seen them 
together for a moment.” 

“ That was long enough,” said Sarah, who did 
not think it necessary to explain that she had 
stood in the hall for several moments. “ Folks 
can’t very often fool me on looks.” Sarah nodded 
her head and set the curls to bobbing as she re- 
peated, “ Folks can’t very often fool me on looks. 
The little girl is a sight like the old lady Dan forth, 
but the boy is the very living image of her ! ” 


t 


CHAPTER VII 

GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 

“Sing, Christmas bells! 

Sing to* all men, — the bond, the free, 

The rich, the poor, the high, the low, 

The little child that sports in glee. 

The aged folk that tottering go, — 

Proclaim the morn 

That Christ is born 
That saveth them and saveth me ! ” 

“ Blessed are they who still dream and wonder and believe.” 

HRISTMAS ! Everything told it. 
The feeling of it was in the air. The 
snow which lay lightly and deeply 
upon ground and trees, the icicles 
which hung in long glittering pendants, the clear, 
bright blue sky, the brisk, lively, sunshiny cold, — 
all told of Christmas. The air was the Christ- 
mas air, stirring the heart-beats. The sounds were 
Christmas sounds, — the merry calling out of 
Christmas greetings, the glad ringing of the church 
bells. 

The Christmas Makers' Club was all ready to 
enjoy Christmas day to the utmost. Mysterious 
packages for the Christmas-tree had arrived at 
237 



238 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Mrs. Dan f orth’s house all day Thursday and had 
been taken charge of by Cummings, the maid, who 
seemed suddenly to have forgotten her stiffness 
and to have become more like other people. The 
Club had held an important business meeting at 
Miss Ruth Warren’s house Thursday afternoon 
and had made everything ready for the visit to the 
Convalescent Home on Christmas morning. The 
twenty-four dolls which the Club had dressed and 
the twelve rag-dolls of Mrs. Holt’s making — 
which even Betty, who had scorned rag-dolls, de* 
dared were full prettier than the others — had been 
carefully placed in a large, flat basket. The paper 
dolls and the tin soldiers were in boxes by them- 
selves, and the twelve tops which Ben had made 
were also ready to be given to the Convalescent 
children. 

Elsa Dan forth had told the Club that her Uncle 
Ned was very anxious to go to the Convalescent 
Home with them, and it had been decided that 
there would be plenty of room for him, also, in 
Ben’s large double sleigh, as he could sit on the 
front seat with Ben and little Alice, while Miss 
Ruth, Betty and Elsa occupied the back seat. 

Best of all, at this business meeting, the children 
had delivered to their Club president, Miss Ruth, 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


239 


the united sum of five dollars and sixty cents which 
they had earned, in the past two weeks, to give to 
the managers of the Convalescent Home. There 
was one dollar and forty cents from Betty White, 
who had earned five cents a day for emptying 
waste paper baskets in her own home and for 
blacking her father’s shoes — never were shoes 
better blacked, Mr. White declared, boastfully; 
there were two dollars from Elsa, whose Uncle 
Ned had paid her just as he promised he would 
for writing two letters each week, although he 
had been in Berkeley the past week, and who had 
also paid her a dollar for copying a long piece of 
writing for him; there were seventy cents from 
little Alice, earned by washing dishes for her 
mother; and, lastly, Ben, who had entered heartily 
in this plan for earning money, had given a dollar 
and a half as his share, earned by shovelling snow 
and doing errands for the neighbours. After con- 
siderable thinking, Ben had decided to give to his 
mother the whole amount of the three dollars and 
a half which Mr. Dan forth had paid him for seven 
hours’ help; and on Christmas morning Mrs. Holt 
had been deeply touched by the gift of money from 
her devoted little son. 

Betty’s dollar and forty cents, Elsa’s two dollars, 


240 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 

Alice’s seventy cents, and Ben’s dollar and a half, 
made the good round sum of five dollars and sixty 
cents which the Club had earned for the Convales- 
cent Home; and when the boy of the Club had 
handed the full amount in silver to the president, 
the Club members had felt well repaid for all their 
work by seeing her great surprise and delight. 

“ Nothing which you could have done would 
have pleased me more than this, children,” Miss 
Ruth said warmly. “ I know that the money will 
be a most welcome gift to the Convalescent Home 
and be ever so much help.” 

“ Will the Club have its name printed?” Betty 
inquired anxiously. 

“ Yes, I am sure the managers of the Home will 
want to mention the name of the Club and the gift 
in their annual report,” Miss Ruth answered. 

“ How will it sound, please? ” Alice asked. 

“Something like this: ‘From the Christmas 
Makers’ Club of Berkeley, $ 5 . 60 ; also dolls, tops, 
and toys.’ ” 

“ Perhaps it will interest other children to do 
things for the little Convalescings,” Ben suggested. 

“We are going to earn some more money for 
them when we have our Easter Club,” Elsa said de- 
lightedly ; “ we must truly have that Easter Club ! ” 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


241 


“ Won’t it be fun to see the little children at the 
Convalescent Home to-morrow morning when we 
give them all the things we have for them? ” Betty 
cried out, enthusiastically, as the Club ended its im- 
portant business meeting on Thursday afternoon, 
impatient for the next day to come. 

And so on this bright morning of the glad 
Christmas day, Ben drove around to Washington 
Avenue at the appointed hour. He had washed 
the sleigh and brushed Jerry until both fairly 
shone, and had given the old horse some extra 
oats. Alice was perched up beside her brother on 
the front seat, looking the picture of rosy-cheeked 
happiness. 

First of all, Ben stopped at the Danforth house, 
to call for Elsa and her uncle. Meanwhile, Betty, 
who had been watching for the arrival of the sleigh, 
came running out from her own home, with her 
brown hair and her blue capes flying, to wish the 
twins a “ Merry Christmas! ” first; so she jumped 
into the back seat of the sleigh without waiting 
to be called for. Mr. Danforth helped Elsa into 
the back seat, and then walked the short distance to 
the Warren house, for Miss Ruth was the only one 
now remaining to join the party. 

But at Miss Ruth’s house a great disappointment 


242 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


awaited the Club, and all on account of Miss Vir- 
ginia Warren. 

Miss Virginia’s cold was better, but her nervous- 
ness had greatly increased. She had never in 
her life had a trained nurse, and much as she 
wanted one to take care of her and wait upon her, 
she felt that it might prove so exciting as to have 
a very bad effect upon her, especially at first. It 
had been arranged that Bettina March should ar- 
rive at noon on Christmas day; and Ruth Warren 
would be back from the Convalescent Home an 
hour before that time. But Miss Virginia had de- 
cided that she could not possibly stay alone that 
morning, nor have anybody except her niece, not 
even Sarah Judd, stay with her. 

From breakfast time on, Miss Virginia grew 
more and more uneasy. At last, just before it was 
time for Ruth to put on her coat and be ready to 
start with the Club, Miss Virginia began crying 
and wringing her large white hands. 

“ I am sorry, Ruth, to have you give up going 
to the Convalescent Home with the children,” Aunt 
Virginia said, tearfully, “ but I don’t feel well 
enough to have you leave me. You know we are 
all supposed to be happier by making Christmas 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


243 


happier for somebody else, so I am sure you will 
be glad to stay with me.” Miss Virginia looked 
up at her niece with a very helpless and resigned 
expression. Her tears had ceased, but she kept on 
wringing her hands in a limp way. 

Ruth Warren was keenly disappointed. She 
knew that her aunt could stay alone for an hour 
perfectly well; but she could not go with any 
pleasure now, after her aunt had asked her to stay 
at home. 

When the merry sleighful stopped in front of 
the house, Ruth Warren herself answered the ring 
at the front door in order not to delay the party. 
Mr. Dan forth had told Ben that he would call for 
Miss Warren and bring out the basket and boxes, 
so that Ben might stay in the sleigh and hold 
Jerry, who, Ben said, might feel extra lively on 
Christmas morning and run away with his precious 
load! 

Accordingly, when Ruth Warren opened the 
door, there stood before her Elsa’s tall, broad- 
shouldered uncle with clear gray eyes, steady in 
an open, moustached face, who looked squarely at 
her while he said with almost a boy’s earnestness: 


244 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“Merry Christmas, Miss Warren! Your Club is 
at the door. Are you and the Christmas presents 
ready to start for the Convalescents’ Home ? ” 

“ Here are the basket and boxes, Mr. Danforth,” 
she said, for she had them close by the door. Leav- 
ing him to bring them, she threw her red cape over 
her shoulders and ran down the steps to the curb- 
stone to tell the Club that she could not go with 
them on account of her Aunt Virginia. 

A prolonged wail of grief went up from the 
Club. 

“ We can’t go without you ! ” cried Elsa, her 
violet-gray eyes filling with tears. 

“ Please, please come,” entreated Betty, jumping 
out of the sleigh. “ I will go and ask your aunt 
to let you.” 

“ But it is I who decide it, not my aunt,” Ruth 
Warren said. “ You will have Mr. Danforth with 
you, and the head-nurse expects you, and you are 
only to stay a short time. You will get along just 
as well without me.” 

“ But we want you ! ” wailed the Club. “ It 
won’t be any fun without you ; ” and they would 
not be consoled. 

“ Please do come, Black Lace Lady ! ” urged 




GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


24 5 


Ben in his most persuasive tone, while Alice, lean- 
ing far over the edge of the sleigh at the great 
risk of falling out, echoed “ Please ” most plead- 
ingly. 

It was hard indeed to resist their urgent begging, 
but Miss Ruth said steadily : “ It will soon be over, 
and after all, children, your having thought of the 
presents for the Convalescent children means far 
more than the giving of the presents." 

Still the Club refused consolation. “ We just 
won't go without you," said Betty passionately, 
kicking the snow with the toe of her rubber. “ I 
will not get back into the sleigh." 

By this time Mr. Dan forth, who realized what 
was going on, had the basket and boxes packed 
under the sleigh seats. 

“ But I want you to go, children," Ruth Warren 
was urging. 

“ The Club must do as its president wishes," 
Mr. Danforth said quickly, now that everything 
was ready. “ All clubs do that, — or at least they 
ought to. You must honour your president by car- 
rying out her wishes." With this, he settled the 
question by lifting Betty into the back seat of the 
sleigh, jumping in after her, and saying to Ben: 


246 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Start along, sir, or we shall be late to our ap- 
pointment. Do you think Jerry can take us out 
there in fifteen minutes? ” 

This settled it. Ben said, “ G’long, Jerry!” 
The well-brushed horse started off briskly, the re- 
luctant children looking backward as long as they 
could to see Miss Ruth standing there on the curb- 
stone. 

The thoughts which those disappointed children 
had, even on Christmas morning, about Miss Vir- 
ginia were not very pleasant thoughts. How much 
of Miss Virginia’s feelings on that same morning 
were due to nervousness, and how much to a desire 
not to have her beloved niece drive out again in 
that old, country-like pung no one yet knows. It 
is true, however, that Miss Virginia said when 
Ruth came back up-stairs : “I am wholly surprised 
that such a distinguished-looking gentleman as Mr. 
Dan forth could be willing to go off in that sleigh 
and with that crowd of children.” 

Elsa’s Uncle Ned tried his best to cheer the 
spirits of the Club. He told funny stories, he 
praised Ben’s horse, he gave them mysterious hints 
of what would take place at the Christmas-tree that 
afternoon — although he did not actually tell them 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


247 


a thing — and finally, by the time they were op- 
posite the Holt’s sunny, flowery-windowed house, 
he had succeeded somewhat in making the children 
forget their disappointment. 

Then it was that Mr. Danforth himself grew 
suddenly grave and thoughtful as he asked Ben to 
stop for a moment while he delivered a message 
from Mrs. Danforth to Mrs. Holt. 

This did not seem anything very important, and 
the children waited more patiently than the horse 
did, in front of his home. 

But the message must have been one which af- 
fected Mrs. Holt greatly; for when Ben and Alice 
looked, as they always did when they drove away, 
to see their mother wave to them from the window, 
she was not there. Could they have seen her at 
that moment, they would have been amazed to see 
her leaning against the mantel with her hands over 
her face, weeping softly at the message which Mr. 
Danforth had brought. 

They would have been still more amazed could 
they have been at the front door of their own home 
a few moments later, when Mrs. Dan f orth’s coupe, 
drawn by the spirited gray horse, drove up to that 
door and Mrs. Danforth herself dismounted. 

Most amazed of all would they have been when 


248 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


their mother opened the door, to hear her exclaim, 
“ Mother ! ” and throw her arms around Mrs. Dan- 
forth, and to hear the tall, white- faced woman cry- 
ing, “ My daughter, my daughter ! ” as the fair- 
haired younger woman led her into the house and 
shut the door. 

The rest of the short distance to the Convales- 
cent Home was spent chiefly in talking about Miss 
Ruth and the Club’s plans for the future. “ Are 
we going to have a meeting next week? ” Elsa in- 
quired of Betty, who knew Miss Ruth best. 

“ I don’t know, I’m sure,” was Betty’s discour- 
aging answer. “ Mother said Miss Ruth told her 
she was going away after New Year’s for a visit, 
somewhere.” 

Fresh gloom settled over the Club at this. Mr. 
Danforth was in despair with having such unhappy 
children upon his hands. But Ben came to his 
rescue, for a gray squirrel whisking along the 
stone wall suggested something to Ben’s mind. 
Turning around, he told Mr. Danforth about car- 
rying the squirrel to the Club meeting one day. 
“ It didn’t frighten Miss Ruth a bit,” Ben ended 
earnestly ; “ she’s got grit, the way I like to have 
a girl.” 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 249 

Fom talking about the squirrel Ben went on to 
tell Mr. Danforth of the screech-owl family which 
had lived in the hollow tree near there last spring. 
“ I think maybe they will come back here again/’ 
he said hopefully, “ and maybe we can see them 
from the hut.” 

“ What hut ? ” asked Mr. Danforth very inno- 
cent-like, although he and Ben had been to the hut 
together more than once now. 

Ben gave a chuckle which he turned into a 
“ G’long, Jerry ! ” and Elsa cried, “ Why, Uncle 
Ned, you know all about the hut! I have told 
you.” 

A moment later they passed the hospitable sign: 

CONVALESCENT HOME 
OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 
VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME 

and the sleigh-bells jingled merrily up the avenue 
to the wide-winged red brick building. 

The kind face of the head-nurse fairly shone 
with happiness when she saw the basketful of dolls 
and all the boxes, “ I have just told the children 
that you were coming,” she said, “ and one little 
boy is sure he heard the reindeers driving to the 


250 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


house. I think he is looking for you to come down 
the chimney, — though you could never get so 
many things as these down even our big chimney, 
at once! After you have given them the presents, 
they are going to sing for you the carol they have 
learned for their Christmas-tree, on Holy Inno- 
cents’ Day. We will go right out to the playroom, 
so as not to keep you or them waiting a moment.” 

The children visitors all knew the way to the 
playroom now. Ben and Alice went first, with the 
big basket of dolls between them, followed by the 
head-nurse and Betty, Elsa and her uncle, each 
carrying a box, Mr. Danforth’s the largest of all, 
for Ben had brought out from under the front seat 
of the sleigh, a square box which the other mem- 
bers of the Club had not seen before. 

The sunny playroom was decked with Christmas 
greens, and the little convalescents had a holiday 
air, for each girl wore a bright red ribbon on her 
hair and each boy either a bright red necktie or a 
bit of red ribbon in his buttonhole. There were, 
just as before, many, many bandaged limbs and 
bodies, and many children on crutches or lying in 
go-carts; there were the same happy patient ex- 
pressions on the children’s faces, only to-day, their 
faces were lighted up with the excitement of 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


251 


Christmas and with eager interest in the presents 
they were to receive. 

The nurses, the Club, and Mr. Danforth, all 
helped quickly to distribute the gifts, and it was 
not long before every little girl in the room was 
hugging a new doll and every little boy was admir- 
ing a new top, or a tin soldier large enough to 
stand alone; and then there was another present 
for each one of the children; for out of Mr. Dan- 
forth’s box came dozens of gray squirrel-shaped 
boxes filled with simple candy, — until the great 
playroom looked as if a forest ful of tiny, tame 
gray squirrels had been let loose there. 

It was a wholly new experience to Mr. Ned Dan- 
forth to see all these little patient, crippled human 
beings. Like many busy men in the world, he had 
been in the habit of signing his name to a check 
and sending it to this or that hospital or charitable 
institution which he was asked to help. But this 
was the first time in his life that he had ever stepped 
inside such a place as the Convalescent Home; and 
at first it seemed to him that he could not bear the 
sight, that almost forty years old as he was, he 
would have to run away like a schoolboy, because 
the sight of those convalescent children made him 
feel so sad. But he could not run away; he was 


252 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


there in charge of the Christmas Makers’ Club. So 
all he could do to relieve his feelings was to put his 
hand into his pocket where he always kept a great 
many five-cent and ten-cent pieces, — being a gen- 
erous-natured man, — and begin giving these pieces 
of money to the children. 

So he started to walk very fast through the 
playroom, dropping into the hands or the laps of 
the children five-cent pieces, ten-cent pieces, pen- 
nies, silver quarter-dollars, even half-dollars, here 
and there, right and left, as long as they lasted. 
And the nurses, in great fear lest the little children 
put the money into their mouths and swallow it, 
followed closely after him, taking the money away 
from the surprised children, who were so used to 
being obedient that they gave it up without any 
fuss, and kind-hearted Uncle Ned did not know 
what was happening behind him. 

Ben and Alice, Betty and Elsa were all too much 
occupied to notice, either. Ben was surrounded by 
a group of his own particular little friends, the 
boys whom he took out driving; Alice and Betty 
were coaxing shy little girls to talk about their new 
dolls, and Elsa had found out the black-eyed child 
in whose arms she had seen her own old china doll, 
Bettina, on her first visit here. 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 253 

The child's frame was strapped to a board, just 
as Elsa had seen it before; but she called out cheer- 
ily: “I am all better! See my new dolly!" On 
the floor by her side lay the old doll, so battered 
and changed that only one who had loved her as 
Elsa had would have recognized her. 

Elsa picked up the old doll tenderly, saying to 
herself : “ I will hold her till the little girl remem- 
bers and wants her." “ What is your new doll’s 
name ? " she asked the child. 

“ ’Tina." 

“ What is the old doll’s name ? " Elsa held the 
battered doll out in plain sight. 

“ ’Tina," said the little girl, reaching out for the 
old doll and blissfully clasping the old and the new 
together in her arms. 

“ And what is your own name, dear ? " asked 
Elsa, for the dark-eyed child interested her greatly. 

“ Iona," the soft voice answered very distinctly. 

“ Come, come, Elsa ! It is time to start," her 
Uncle Ned said, hurrying up to her and trying to 
be very gruff. His face was quite red under its 
tanned colour, and he was biting the ends of his 
moustache savagely. 

But just then, at a signal from the head-nurse, 
the children began to sing their Christmas carol : 


254 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“Once in royal David’s city 
Stood a lowly cattle shed, 

Where a mother laid her baby. 

In a manger for his bed; 

Mary was that mother mild, 

Jesus Christ her little child. 

“ For he is our childhood’s pattern ; 

Day by day like us he grew; 

He was little, weak, and helpless, 

Tears and smiles like us he knew; 

And he feeleth for our sadness, 

And he shareth in our gladness. 

“And our eyes at last shall see him. 

Through his own redeeming love; 

For that child so dear and gentle 
Is our Lord in heaven above. 

And he leads his children on 
To the place where he is gone.” 

Then, because they were such frail little children 
that they could not learn much or readily, they sang 
as the other part of their Christmas service, their 
daily grace: 


“Thank Him, thank Him, 
All ye little children. 
Thank Him, thank Him, 
God is love.” 


The plaintive child faces, some of them white as 
snow-drops, the delicate, sweet voices singing the 
Christmas hymn and the simple grace, proved too 
much for Uncle Ned’s tender heart. “ We must 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


255 


go, we must go this minute ! ” he exclaimed hur- 
riedly calling the Club together and fairly driving 
them out of the room, before him. 

Elsa looked back long enough to say good-bye to 
the dark-eyed child of her fancy, and the little one 
called cheerily : “ Dood-bye. I am all better ! 

Turn aden.” 

The head-nurse followed the retreating man and 
the hurrying children along the passageway toward 
the front door with a very understanding look on 
her face. 

“ Have we stayed too long? ” Elsa inquired anx- 
iously, stopping behind the others and lifting her 
serious eyes to Miss Hartwell’s face. 

“ No, dear; there are still a few moments left 
of the time I had set for your little Club to stay.” 

Elsa did not tell this to the other children or to 
her uncle. Already, however, she had learned what 
her uncle did not yet know, but what he learned 
later: that while the first visit to the Convalescent 
Home is saddening, each time after that the place 
grows more and more interesting and less sad to 
visit. 

At the door Mr. Ned Danforth turned and shook 
hands briskly with the head-nurse. 

“ Splendid place here! ” he said, again very gruf- 


256 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


fly. “ Noble work you are doing! Thank you for 
your kindness to us.” Then he thrust a large-sized 
bill into her hand, saying in a desperate sort of 
way, “ Use it to do something more for those chil- 
dren! ” 

And Ben suddenly remembered the small white 
box containing five dollars and sixty cents which 
he had in his pocket. He pulled it forth and handed 
it to Miss Hartwell with a profound bow : “ It is 
some money that the Christmas Makers’ Club — 
that’s us — have earned all ourselves to help the 
little Convalescings.” 

“ Thank you, thank you, all of you,” said Miss 
Hartwell, looking from one to another of the 
bright-faced children. “ I am sure you cannot real- 
ize how much help you have given to the children 
here and to the Home.” 

Too delighted for words, the Club members 
smiled back at Miss Hartwell. 

She hesitated about speaking of Miss Ruth War- 
ren, for Mr. Dan forth had told her, when they 
first came, of the Club’s tearful tendencies. It was 
not until the children were going through the door- 
way that she said : “ You are as heartily sorry as I 
am, I know, because Miss Warren could not come 
with you ; but we shall look forward to other visits 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


257 


from your Club when the longer days of spring 
are here.” 

The faces of the children showed their mingled 
grief and anticipation expressively; they were 
speechless, however, on the subject of Miss Ruth. 

“ May I take some of the little chaps out sleigh- 
riding to-morrow morning? ” asked Ben, a heartful 
of sympathy shining in his boyish face. 

“ Yes, Ben; and you don’t know how those lit- 
tle lads look forward to their drives with you. We 
shall have to call you the Charioteer of the Con- 
valescent Home,” said Miss Hartwell. 

Then, as the door closed behind them, Mr. Dan- 
forth speedily bundled the Club into the sleigh for 
the homeward drive. 

When they turned into Berkeley Avenue, Elsa 
thought she caught a sight, far ahead, of her grand- 
mother’s gray horse; but she decided it could not 
have been, because her grandmother almost never 
went driving in the morning, and she surely would 
not be away from home when there was so much 
to see about in regard to the Christmas-tree. Even 
Elsa herself did not know what all the surprises 
were to be, although she knew that many wonder- 
ful things were going to happen that Christmas 
afternoon. 


258 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


That afternoon, the surprises came so fast and 
so astonishingly that the heads of the Christmas 
Makers’ Club and of all concerned fairly whirled 
with excitement. 

To begin with, Ben and Alice thought it strange 
indeed that Mrs. Dan f orth’s gray horse and hand- 
some double-seated sleigh were sent to take their 
mother and them to the Christmas party. 

“ Why couldn’t we go with Jerry just as well? ” 
Ben asked loyally. “ I could cover him all up with 
his blanket and hitch him in front of Elsa’s grand- 
mother’s house.” 

But Mrs. Holt only smiled for answer. The 
children had found their mother very bright-eyed, 
on their return, and she had been more than usually 
tender with them, but had told them nothing as 
yet. 

“ Do you think Elsa’s grandmother will let us 
drive home, or will we have to walk? ” Alice asked 
gravely. 

“ I think she will have us drive home,” said Mrs. 
Holt, turning aside to hide the happy tears that 
would spring into her eyes. She had dressed Alice 
in her prettiest white dress, — a soft muslin with 
dainty lace-trimmed ruffles, — and Ben wore for 
the first time a new dark blue blouse suit ; for Mrs. 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


259 


Holt was anxious to have her children look their 
best that afternoon. 

“ Mrs. Danforth would like to see you all in the 
library, ma’am,” said Cummings, who opened the 
door. The twins wondered very much why their 
mother’s hands trembled so. It could not be be- 
cause she was afraid of that straight-backed maid- 
servant who took their wraps and who smiled at 
them quite pleasantly. Elsa was nowhere to be 
seen, which surprised them. 

In the centre of the library stood Mrs. Danforth, 
not quite so erect as usual, and with one hand on 
a chair, to support herself. She bowed her head 
and her figure swayed slightly when Mrs. Holt 
entered the room, with Ben just ahead of her on 
the right and Alice on the left. 

“ Mother, — here are my children, Alice and 
Ben,” Mrs. Holt said in a low voice which sounded 
as if there were tears behind it, “ and, children 
dear,” — she pressed them gently forward, — 
“ this is your own grandmother.” 

Mrs. Danforth knelt down suddenly and put her 
arms around both of the mystified children, looking 
first into one and then the other of the amazed, 
blue-eyed faces. She tried to speak, but something 
choked her. 


260 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Let me tell them, mother,” said Mrs. Holt, 
helping her to rise and leading her to a chair. “ I 
have always promised them I would tell them, some 
day, about their grandmother.” Kneeling down, 
herself, now, by the side of the chair, and drawing 
the children into her embrace, Mrs. Holt said in 
the same tear-sounding voice and very slowly : 
“ Listen, children: when I was hardly more than 
a grown-up girl, I ran away from my home and 
married your father against my mother’s wishes, 
for he was a poor man, and he, too, was hardly 
old enough to be married. And because I was a 
disobedient daughter, my mother punished me by 
not wanting to see me for a long, long time. That 
time is ended now and — ” Mrs. Holt hid her face 
and her tears against her own little daughter’s 
shoulder. 

Then Mrs. Danforth found her voice and said: 
“ Dear children, your grandmother has been a 
sorry, sad woman all these years that she tried to 
punish her daughter, but she is happy — very happy 
now — to have her daughter back again and her 
own grandchildren.” 

“ Are you our grandmother ? ” Alice asked shyly, 
staring with wide-open blue eyes at the gray-haired 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 261 

lady who said such interesting things and seemed 
so sorry. 

“ Yes, darling/' was the grandmotherly answer. 
“ And you look just as your mother looked when 
she was a little girl." 

“ You are really and truly my grandmother?" 
asked Ben in a delighted tone, although he could 
not stop thinking how surprising it was that his 
mother had ever been a little girl, and had been 
punished. 

“ Yes. Are you going to love me? ” Mrs. Dan- 
forth was astonished at herself for asking. 

For particular answer, Ben threw his arms 
around her neck. “ It’s going to be real easy for 
me to love you," he said happily. Then he drew 
back and looked at her, seriously, before he an- 
nounced : “I think I shall call you Grandmother 
Gray." 

“ That is a very good name, my boy," she said, 
smiling through the joyful tears that had sprung 
into her eyes at the feeling of his loving young 
arms around her neck ; and her glasses fell off her 
nose like any grandmother’s. 

“ Is Elsa our cousin now ? ” asked Ben, who was 
always of an inquiring turn of mind. 

“ No, my dear," replied his grandmother, brush- 


262 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


in g back his hair with her richly jewelled hand; 
“ and I will tell you why. After your own grand- 
father died and after your mother went away, I 
married a widower, Judge Danforth, who had two 
sons. One of those sons was Elsa’s father and the 
other is her Uncle Ned, whom you know. After 
Judge Danforth died, and Elsa’s father also, I 
moved to Berkeley, because I knew that your 
mother was here, and I could not live any longer 
without seeing her and my grandchildren. Elsa 
is no real relation to me at all.” 

Alice, who was holding her mother’s hand closely 
in hers while all these wonderful things were going 
on, looked wholly puzzled; but Ben thrust his 
hands into the pockets of his new trousers, — jin- 
gled the two silver quarters he had earned by help- 
ing Mr. Danforth an hour that morning, after the 
drive, — and said thoughtfully : “ Then Elsa hasn’t 
you for a real grandmother. Does she know it ? ” 

“Yes,” replied Mrs. Danforth; “I told her 
after she came from the Convalescent Home this 
morning. 

“ I am all the gladder she is going to have 
Susie!” cried Alice; then she quickly clapped her 
rounded hand over her mouth. 

But Ben had more questions to ask, so he did 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


263 


not notice that Alice had told. “ Are you very 
rich, Grandmother Gray?” 

“ Yes/’ she answered, rather surprised that the 
boy should ask this. 

“Will you give Peggy — I mean Alice — some 
pretty dresses, same as Elsa and Betty have ? ” 

“ Yes, my boy, Alice shall have everything she 
wants and so shall you.” 

Alice put her chubby hands together softly, in 
almost unbelieving joy, and Ben said radiantly: 
“ What I want most of all is that mother of mine 
need not work hard any more.” 

A look of great sorrow passed over Mrs. Dan- 
forth’s face, and Mrs. Holt whispered to Ben: 
“ Hush, my darling.’’ 

The front door-bell ringing, told of the arrival 
of other guests. “We must call Elsa in for a 
moment,” said Mrs. Danforth, rising. Her eyes 
were soft now, with that look of tears in them. 
Stepping to the library door, she said gently, 
“ Elsa ! ” And Elsa, who had been waiting in the 
reception-room across the hall, came into the library 
just as Ruth Warren and Betty and a quiet little 
woman — whom Cummings instantly recognized 
— entered the hall door and were asked by Cum- 
mings to go up-stairs and leave their wraps. 


264 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Elsa was dressed in a dainty white silk gown 
with a full, many-ruffled skirt. She looked very 
pale as she stepped into the library and stood, a 
lone, sensitive-faced child, opposite the happy group 
of grandmother, mother, and two children. 

It was Elsa, strangely enough, who spoke first. 
Turning to Alice, she said slowly: “ You — you 
and Ben have a grandmother now and I haven’t 
any. Shall I have to go away,” she asked, lift- 
ing her pathetic eyes to Mrs. Danforth’s face, “ and 
be a poor little girl? ” She had just begun to think 
of this question. 

“ You need never go away unless you wish to, 
Elsa,” Mrs. Danforth said quickly. “ And you 
will not be a poor little girl, for, as your Uncle Ned 
and I have agreed that I should tell you to-day, 
you are a very rich little girl, with a great deal of 
money that is all your own.” 

“ O, how glad I am ! ” cried Elsa, some of the 
sorrowful look dying out of her eyes ; “ for now 
I can do everything I want to, to help the Con- 
valescent children.” 

There was something so touching and so win- 
ning in the little orphan girl, standing there with 
her face full of unselfish joy at the thought of 
what she could do for others less fortunate than 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


265 


herself, that Mrs. Dan forth suddenly humbled her- 
self before this little child. 

“ Elsa,” she said, stepping forward, “ I have not 
been as kind and loving to you as I might have 
been. But the love which springs up in my heart 
for my own grandchildren makes me realize how 
much I also love the little girl who has brightened 
my home and been so' brave and obedient.” She 
held out her arms. Elsa came forward gladly, and 
Mrs. Danforth kissed her with warm affection, — 
apparently quite forgetting that she had ever 
thought this a foolish custom. And Elsa felt that 
she loved her grandmother-that-was a great deal 
more dearly now that she wasn't really her grand- 
mother. Then Alice put her soft arms around 
Elsa’s neck, and Mrs. Holt said kindly : “ I shall 
have to call you my little niece, Elsa.” 

Ben spoke up then : “ Do you remember I’ve 
never told you my name for you, Elsa? I’ve 
changed it now. It used to be Sad Girl, that’s why 
I didn’t tell you before; but now it’s going to be 
‘ Princess.’ ” Dropping a shy kiss on Elsa’s golden 
hair, Ben ran off in answer to a muffled sum- 
mons. 

At that same moment Cummings pulled back the 
heavy green velvet portieres which separated the 


266 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


library from the drawing-room, and the glory of 
the Christmas-tree burst upon the children’s sight. 

The tree, reaching nearly to the ceiling, stood 
at the farther end of the long drawing-room, its 
graceful branches fairly drooping with treasures. 
There were packages of every shape and descrip- 
tion; there were long icicles, moving, swaying balls 
of silver and gold, scarlet and blue, glowing and 
sparkling in the mellow radiance of many wax 
candles; and there was a beautiful white Christmas 
angel at the very top of the tree. A warm, spicy 
odour of balsam fir filled the air, and a splendid, 
roaring fire in the great fireplace cast a ruddy light 
over the beautiful furnishings of the drawing- 
room. 

Elsa, puzzled and excited by the events of the 
day, ran forward to greet Miss Ruth with a feeling 
as of seeking shelter. “ Do you know that grand- 
mother isn’t my grandmother really, but is Alice’s 
and Ben’s ? ” she said in a low tone, slipping her 
hand into Miss Ruth’s. 

Ruth Warren, who had on the black lace gown 
with the little old lady’s coral beads around her 
neck, gazed in surprise at Elsa for a half moment. 
Then it was all so simple that she wondered why 
she had not thought of Mrs. Danforth’s possibly 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


267 


having been twice married. “ We know now why 
both your grandmother — I mean Mrs. Dan forth 
— and Mrs. Holt have the paintings alike,” said 
Miss Ruth. 

“ Yes, I remember — the picture of the house 
where grandmother used to live,” cried Elsa. 

But one could not stop very long to think about 
any one thing, with that Christmas-tree in the room. 

“ I wish my Uncle Ned could be here,” Elsa 
exclaimed, as she swung around into sight of the 
tree. “ He had to go to the city this noon. Per- 
haps he will come back before the tree is over. He 
said he would if he could.” 

While Betty and Alice were gazing delightedly 
at the gorgeous tree, Miss Ruth asked Elsa, in a 
low voice, to go across the hall into the reception- 
room to find a Christmas surprise which was wait- 
ing for her there. And soon Elsa came back with 
shining, happy eyes, leading by the hand a short, 
comely- faced woman whose brown hair was slightly 
streaked with gray. “ This is Bettina March, my 
dear, dear Bettina,” said Elsa, introducing the shy, 
modest little woman to the group of her friends; 
but Bettina, although she greeted them all in a 
musical voice, with a slight German accent, had 
eyes only for her beloved former charge, Elsa. 


268 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


“ Where is Ben?” asked Ruth Warren, in part 
to turn attention from the shrinking stranger, who 
was half-laughing, half-crying with joy, and in 
part because she was wondering who would take 
the presents from the tree. 

Then an amazing thing happened. With a long 
hoo-oo-t ! a great gray owl hopped, sidling fashion, 
from the library doorway into the full sight of the 
astonished Christmas party, flapping his wings 
awkwardly as he made his way across the room to 
the Christmas-tree. And close behind him scam- 
pered a very large gray squirrel. 

A shout went up from the children. 

“ Gray Owl Santa Claus ! ” cried Betty, whirling 
round and round till she looked like a red balloon 
in her holly-red dress. 

Alice, half frightened, drew away from the Gray 
Owl toward the Squirrel. “ Ben is the Squirrel,” 
she exclaimed, for nothing could deceive her with 
regard to her twin brother. 

“ Keep a good heart ! ” the Gray Owl called out 
in a quick, muffled voice, close to Elsa’s ear. 

“ O, Uncle Ned, Uncle Ned ! ” she cried de- 
lightedly. “ You came back to be a Gray Owl 
Santa Claus! What a dear, funny uncle you are.” 

Then the Gray Owl, with sudden, awkward 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 269 

movements, began taking the presents off from the 
tree and handing them to the Gray Squirrel, who 
clasped his paws around them and carried them to 
the persons whose names the Owl had called in a 
deep, muffled voice. 

And then it was that the Club had a chance to 
see the marvellous costumes of the queer Santa 
Claus and his helper. The Gray Owl’s body-cov- 
ering was of soft gray wool material which lay in 
ridges like downy feathers; the wings, which were 
held to his arms by long sleeves of gray gauze, 
were made of closely placed long gray feathers and 
quills, and his head was covered by a gray owl 
mask, with tufted ears and yellow eyes having thin 
black slits. The squirrel had on a most cleverly 
made coat of soft gray wool shaded to purest white 
on the breast; a bristly, broom-like tail dragged 
behind him, and a pointed-nosed mask with sharp 
little ears, was drawn close over his head. 

By this time every one had received many pres- 
ents, and a great opening of packages had begun. 
The Club members had thought of most interesting 
remembrances for one another. Elsa and Betty had 
together given Alice a beautiful doll that could talk, 
a blue-eyed waxen beauty with fringed eyelashes 
that opened and shut, rose-leaf cheeks and silky 


270 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


flaxen curls; and the two girls had given to Ben 
a locomotive with an electric battery, — a bewitch- 
ing package which he stopped long enough to open 
with his deft gray squirrel paws, and to cry out 
about, in his unsquirrel-like voice : “ Oh, my, how 
jolly! ” Alice and Ben had together given to Betty 
and to Elsa each a beautiful white hyacinth. Elsa 
had from Betty a trunkful of dresses for her best 
doll, and Betty from Elsa a dainty silver watch. 
From Miss Ruth, Ben had a box of tools, and each 
of the girls a gold thimble. 

Still the Gray Owl kept on taking presents from 
the tree, the Squirrel jumped around with packages, 
and the fun went on. Nobody was forgotten. 
There were presents for Bettina, who ran away 
soon to Miss Virginia, after a last loving look at 
Elsa; there were presents for Miss Ruth and Mrs. 
Holt, for Mrs. Danforth and for Mrs. White, who 
came in somewhat late to have a look at her neigh- 
bour’s Christmas-tree. There were presents for 
Mr. Danforth, who tucked them away in some mys- 
terious make-believe Gray Owl tree-hollow; for 
Cummings, and for Sarah Judd, who came by spe- 
cial invitation of the Club, and who smiled until her 
face seemed in danger of cracking apart, as she 
received first a bright scarlet geranium from Ben 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


271 


and Alice, then a pretty white apron from Betty, 
and a handsomely illustrated book from Elsa. 

When the Squirrel, taking a square package, ran 
with little leaping steps to Mrs. Danforth and be- 
gan making a speech, everybody stopped talking 
to listen. 

“ Grandmother Gray,” he said, “ when you in- 
vited the Club to have a Christmas-tree at your 
house, I had an idea that you must be very rich, 
and I thought you must need a good safe place to 
keep your money in, so I made this for you.” 

Mrs. Danforth, with trembling fingers, like any 
surprised grandmother, unwrapped the package to 
find a box, neatly jointed together, with the lower 
•part just large enough to put bills in laid out flat, 
and the upper part divided into five places, — one, 
each, for pennies, five-cent pieces, ten-cent pieces, 
quarters and half-dollars, as Ben, looking on, ex- 
plained. The box was stained a rich, dark red 
colour, and had a tiny padlock and key. 

“ Nonsense ! ” said the grandmother in greatest 
delight. “ Did you make this, Ben ? ” 

“ Yes, grandmother ; I used to think I would 
be a carpenter,” replied Ben, as she took his two 
gray kid-gloved little hands into hers for a moment. 
“ I think now, though, that I shall be a bird-man.” 


272 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


Then, just like any fond, indulgent grandmother, 
Mrs. Danforth smiled and said : “ You shall be 
whatever you want to be, my boy.” And Mrs. 
Holt looked with motherly pride upon her bright- 
eyed, happy- faced son. 

While the box was being passed around and 
admired and the Squirrel was explaining it, the 
Gray Owl hopped in his funny sidelong fashion, 
with awkward, flopping wings, to Alice — who was 
not afraid of him now — and asked her to give to 
Elsa a long white box marked : “ From the Christ- 
mas Makers’ Club.” 

“ Susie! Susie! You dear old doll,” Elsa cried, 
drawing a long, sobbing breath of delight. They 
all turned at her exclamation and saw her clasping 
to her breast an old-fashioned china doll in a white 
ball dress looped up with morsels of pink rosebuds 
over a blue silk petticoat. 

But there was no time even to explain to Elsa 
why the Club had given her the old-fashioned doll, 
for another exciting event claimed their attention 
immediately. The Gray Owl and the Squirrel to- 
gether took a heavy, flat package to Miss Ruth, who 
had already received so many remembrances that 
she was far from having thoughts of anything 
more. The Club watched breathlessly. This was 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 273 

the present which Mrs. White had helped them 
choose. 

From under many white^paper wrappings ap- 
peared at last a beautiful Fra Angelico trumpeter 
angel, soft, rich, scarlet-and-gold in colouring, in 
a handsome gilt frame. With the picture came a 
card, on which Betty had written with great care- 
fulness : “ An angel to blow you a greeting from 
your affectionate Christmas Makers’ Club.” And 
to this card all the members of the Club had signed 
their names. 

Hardly had Miss Ruth had time to thank the 
Club, when the Gray Owl handed to Elsa a long, 
white business-like looking envelope addressed to 
“ Miss Ruth Warren, President of the Christmas 
Makers’ Club.” The excitement of Elsa’s manner 
made the others look on again with keenest interest. 

What was their delight and rapture to have Miss 
Ruth read a legal paper, presenting to the Club, 
from Elsa Danforth, the gift, for the exclusive use 
of the Club, of a log-hut on a certain piece of wood 
property on Berkeley Avenue. 

“ The hut ! The hut ! All our own ! ” cried 
Betty, whirling around again like a lively red bal- 
loon. And then they all began talking at once and 
very fast about furnishing the hut, of keeping some 


274 THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB 


dolls and dishes there, even of having a fireplace 
built so they could use the hut for meetings in cold 
weather ! 

Elsa, whose thought this gift of the hut had 
been — although her Uncle Ned had carried it out, 
with Ben’s help — stood enjoying to the full the 
happiness of the Club, when suddenly, with a long, 
low hoo-oo-t! the Gray Owl, flapping his wings, 
landed in front of her. Bowing low, he said: 
“ Princess, the Gray Owl begs that you will allow 
him to live with you here, in Berkeley, from this 
time forth.” 

“ Uncle Ned! Do you really mean it?” she 
begged, lifting her flower-like face and beseeching 
gray eyes to his. 

“ Yes, the Gray Owl really means it. He will 
not be a cross Gray Owl, though, so keep a good 
heart, Princess,” he answered, making believe he 
thought she did not want him to live with her, for 
he had seen tears start under her long eyelashes. 
Then, because he knew that many exciting things 
had happened to his little niece that day, he drew 
her toward him and held her under the shelter of 
his soft gray wings. 

Of all the surprises that Christmas had brought 
to Elsa, this last one was the best. It was far more 


GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 


275 


than the knowledge that she had a great deal of 
money even though she was happy in the thought 
that she could help the convalescent children with 
that money ; it was more than’ the great satisfac- 
tion of having Bettina March come back into her 
life, more than the gift of the little old lady’s doll 
and all the many other Christmas presents put to- 
gether : — more than all these ; for she loved her 
Uncle Ned better than she loved anybody else in 
the whole wide world. And she drew back within 
the shelter of the wide wings in supreme content. 


THE END. 







BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS 

(Trade Mark) 

By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON 

Each, i vol. large, i2mo, cloth decorative, per vol. . $1.50 

The Little Colonel Stories. 

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tion. 

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(Trade Mark) 

Illustrated by E. B. Barry. 

Since the time of “ Little Women,” no juvenile heroine 
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A— 11 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY’S 


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(Trade Mark) 

Two Little Knights of Kentucky. 
The Giant Scissors. 

Big Brother. 

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In the Desert of Waiting : The Legend 
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Paper boards 35 

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New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel 
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A story of the time of Christ, which is one of the 
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A — 12 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


Asa Holmes ; or, at the cross-roads, a 

sketch of Country Life and Country Humor. By 
Annie Fellows Johnston. With a frontispiece by 
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Large 1 6mo, cloth, gilt top . . . $1.00 

“‘Asa Holmes; or, At the Cross-Roads’ is the most de- 
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The Rival Campers; OR, The Adventures 
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This book is a continuation of the adventures of “ The 
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“ The Rival Campers Ashore ” deals with the adventures 
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A — 13 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY’S 


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Jack Lorimer and his friends stand out as the finest ex- 
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BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


Beautiful Joe's Paradise ; or, the island 

of Brotherly Love. A sequel to “ Beautiful Joe.” 
By Marshall Saunders, author of “ Beautiful Joe.” 
One vol., library 1 2mo, cloth, illustrated . $1.50 

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’Tilda Jane. By Marshall Saunders. 

One vol., i2mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1,50 

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Born to the Blue. By Florence Kimball 
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A — 15 


Z. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


In West Point Gray. By Florence Kim- 
ball Russel. 

i2mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . $1.25 

West Point forms the background for the second volume 
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Mr. Hopkins’s first essay at bedtime stories met with such 
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A — 16 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


PllSSy =Cat Town. By Marion Ames Tag- 

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Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and deco- 
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“ Pussy-Cat Town ” is a most unusual delightful cat story. 
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Gabriel was a loving, patient, little French lad, who assisted 
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A — 17 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


The Red Feathers. By Theodore Roberts, 

author of “ Brothers of Peril,” etc. 

Cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1*50 

“ The Red Feathers” tells of the remarkable adventures of 
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The Wreck of the Ocean Queen. By 

James Otis, author of “ Larry Hudson’s Ambition,” 

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Little White Indians. By Fannie E. 

Ostrander. 

Cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.25 

The “ Little White Indians ” were two families of children 
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A — IS 


COSY CORNER SERIES 

It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall 
contain only the very highest and purest literature, — 
stories that shall not only appeal to the children them- 
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them in their joys and sorrows. 

The numerous illustrations in each book are by well-known 
artists, and each volume has a separate attractive cover 
design. 

Each i vol., i6mo, cloth $0.50 

By ANNIE FELLO WS JOHNSTON 

The Little Colonel. (Trade Mark.) 

The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its heroine 
is a small girl, who is known as the Little Colonel, on 
account of her fancied resemblance to an old-school South- 
ern gentleman, whose fine estate and old family are famous 
in the region. 

The Giant Scissors. 

This is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in 
France. Joyce is a great friend of the Little Colonel, and 
in later volumes shares with her the delightful experiences 
of the “ House Party ” and the “ Holidays.” 

Two Little Knights of Kentucky. 

Who Were the Little Colonel’s Neighbors. 

In this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an 
old friend, but with added grace and charm. She is not, 
however, the central figure of the story, that place being 
taken by the “ two little knights.” 

Mildred’s Inheritance. 

A delightful little story of a lonely English girl who 
comes to America and is befriended by a sympathetic 
American family who are attracted by her beautiful speak- 
ing voice. By means of this one gift she is enabled to 
help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the use of her 
eyes, and thus finally her life becomes a busy, happy one. 

A — 3 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON ( Continued ) 

Cicely and Other Stories lor Girls. 

The readers of Mrs. Johnston’s charming juveniles will 
be glad to learn of the issue of this volume for young 
people. 

Aunt ’Liza’s Hero and Other Stories. 

A collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal 
to all boys and most girls. 

Big Brother. 

A story of two boys. The devotion and care of Steven, 
himself a small boy, for his baby brother, is the theme of 
the simple tale. 

Ole Mammy’s Torment. 

“ Ole Mammy’s Torment ” has been fitly called “ a classic 
of Southern life.” It relates the haps and mishaps of a 
small negro lad, and tells how he was led by love and kind- 
ness to a knowledge of the right. 

The Story of Dago. 

In this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, a 
pet monkey, owned jointly by two brothers. Dago tells 
his own story, and the account of his haps and mishaps is 
both interesting and amusing. 

The Quilt That Jack Built. 

A pleasant little story of a boy’s labor of love, and how 
it changed the course of his life many years after it was 
accomplished. 

Flip’s Islands of Providence. 

A story of a boy’s life battle, his early defeat, and his 
final triumph, well worth the reading. 

A — 4 


COSY CORNER SERIES 


By EDITH ROBINSON 

A Little Puritan’s First Christmas. 

A Story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how 
Christmas was invented by Betty Sewall, a typical child 
of the Puritans, aided by her brother Sam. 

A Little Daughter of Liberty. 

The author introduces this story as follows : 

“ One ride is memorable in the early history of the 
American Revolution, the well-known ride of Paul 
Revere. Equally deserving of commendation is another 
ride, — the ride of Anthony Severn, — which was no less 
historic in its action or memorable in its consequences.” 

A Loyal Little Maid. 

A delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary 
days, in which the child heroine, Betsey Schuyler, 
renders important services to George Washington. 

A Little Puritan Rebel. 

This is an historical tale of a real girl, during the 
time when the gallant Sir Harry Vane was governor of 
Massachusetts. 

A Little Puritan Pioneer. 

The scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settle- 
ment at Charlestown. 

A Little Puritan Bound Girl. 

A story of Boston in Puritan days, which is of great 
interest to youthful readers. 

A Little Puritan Cavalier. 

The story of a “ Little Puritan Cavalier ” who tried 
with all his boyish enthusiasm to emulate the spirit and 
ideals of the dead Crusaders. 

A Puritan Knight Errant. 

The story tells of a young lad in Colonial times who 
endeavored to carry out the high ideals of the knights 
of olden days. 

A— 5 


Z. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


By OUIDA (. Louise de la Ramie) 

A Dog Of Flanders : A Christmas Story. 

Too well and favorably known to require description. 

The Nurnberg Stove. 

This beautiful story has never before been published at 
a popular price. 

By PRANCES MARGARET FOX 

The Little Giant’s Neighbours. 

A charming nature story of a “ little giant ” whose neigh- 
bours were the creatures of the field and garden. 

Farmer Brown and the Birds. 

A little story which teaches children that the birds are 
man’s best friends. 

Betty of Old Mackinaw. 

A charming story of child-life, appealing especially to 
the little readers who like stories of “ real people.” 

Brother Billy. 

The story of Betty’s brother, and some further adven- 
tures of Betty herself. 

Mother Nature’s Little Ones. 

Curious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or 
“ childhood,” of the little creatures out-of-doors. 

How Christmas Came to the Mul- 
vaneys. 

A bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children, 
with an unlimited capacity for fun and mischief. The 
wonderful never-to-be forgotten Christmas that came to 
them is the climax of a series of exciting incidents. 

A — 6 


COSY CORNER SERIES 


By MISS MULOCK 

The Little Lame Prince. 

A delightful story of a little boy who has many adven. 
tures by means of the magic gifts of his fairy godmother. 

Adventures of a Brownie. 

The story of a household elf who torments the cook and 
gardener, but is a constant joy and delight to the children 
who love and trust him. 

'lis Little Mother. 

Miss Mulock’s short stories for children are a constant 
source of delight to them, and “ His Little Mother,” in this 
new and attractive dress, will be welcomed by hosts of 
youthful readers. 

Little Sunshine’s Holiday. 

An attractive story of a summer outing. “ Little Sun- 
shine ” is another of those beautiful child-characters for 
which Miss Mulock is so justly famous. 

By MARSHALL SAUNDERS 

For His Country. 

A sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved his 
country ; written with that charm which has endeared Miss 
Saunders to hosts of readers. 

Nita, the Story of an Irish Setter. 

In this touching little book, Miss Saunders shows how 
dear to her heart are all of God’s dumb creatures. 

Alpatok, the Story of an Eskimo Dog. 

Alpatok, an Eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen 
from his master and left to starve in a strange city, but was 
befriended and cared for, until he was able to return to his 
owner. Miss Saunders’s story is based on truth, and the 
pictures in the book of “ Alpatok ” are based on a photo- 
graph of the real Eskimo dog who had such a strange ex- 
perience. 

A-7 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY’S 


By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE 

The Farrier’s Do g and His Fellow. 

This story, written by the gifted young Southern woman, 
will appeal to all that is best in the natures of the many 
admirers of her graceful and piquant style. 


The Fortunes of the Fellow. 

Those who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm of 
“The Farrier’s Dog and His Fellow” will welcome the 
further account of the adventures of Baydaw and the Fel- 
low at the home of the kindly smith. 


The Best of Friends. 

This continues the experiences of the Farrier’s dog and 
his Fellow, written in Miss Dromgoole’s well-known charm- 
ing style. 

Down in Dixie. 

A fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of Ala- 
bama children who move to Florida and grow up in the 
South. 


By MARIAN W. WILDMAN 

Loyalty Island. 

An account of the adventures of four children and their 
pet dog on an island, and how they cleared their brother 
from the suspicion of dishonesty. 


Theodore and Theodora. 

This is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mis- 
chievous twins, and continues the adventures of the interest- 
ing group of children in “ Loyalty Island.” 

A — 8 


COSY CORNER SERIES 


By CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS 

The Cruise of the Yacht Dido. 

The story of two boys who turned their yacht into a 
fishing boat to earn money to pay for a college course, 
and of their adventures while exploring in search of 
hidden treasure. 

The Young Acadian. 

The story of a young lad of Acadia who rescued a 
little English girl from the hands of savages. 

The Lord of the Air. 

The Story of the Eagle 

The King of the Mamozekel. 

The Story of the Moose 

The Watchers of the Camp=fire. 

The Story of the Panther 

The Haunter of the Pine Gloom. 

The Story of the Lynx 

The Return to the Trails. 

The Story of the Bear 

The Little People of the Sycamore. 

The Story of the Raccoon 

By OTHER AUTHORS 

The Great Scoop. 

By MOLL Y ELLIOT SEA WELL 

A capital tale of newspaper life in a big city, and 
of a bright, enterprising, likable youngster employed 
thereon. 

John Whopper. 

The late Bishop Clark’s popular story of the boy who 
fell through the earth and came out in China, with a 
new introduction by Bishop Potter. 

A — 9 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


The Dole Twins. 

By KATE UPSON CLARK 

The adventures of two little people who tried to earn 
money to buy crutches for a lame aunt. An excellent 
description of child-life about 1812, which will greatly 
interest and amuse the children of to-day, whose life is 
widely different. 

Larry Hudson’s Ambition. 

By JAMES OTIS , author of “Toby Tyler,” etc. 

Larry Hudson is a typical American boy, whose hard 
work and enterprise gain him his ambition, — an education 
and a start in the world. 

The Little Christmas Shoe. 

By JANE P. SCOTT WOODRUFF 

A touching story of Yule-tide. 

Wee Dorothy. 

By LAURA UPDEGRAFF 

A story of two orphan children, the tender devotion of 
the eldest, a boy, for his sister being its theme and setting. 
With a bit of sadness at the beginning, the story is other- 
wise bright and sunny, and altogether wholesome in every 
way. 

The King of the Golden River: A Legend 

of Stiria. By JOHN RUSKIN 

Written fifty years or more ago, and not originally in- 
tended for publication, this little fairy-tale soon became 
known and made a place for itself. 

A Child’s Garden of Verses. 

By R. L. STEVENSON 

Mr. Stevenson’s little volume is too well known to need 
description. It will be heartily welcomed in this new and 
attractive edition. 

A— 10 


THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES 


The most delightful and interesting accounts possible 
of child life in other lands, filled with quaint sayings, 
doings, and adventures. 

Each one vol., 1 2mo, decorative cover, cloth, with six or more 
full-page illustrations in color. 

Price per volume $0.60 


By MARY HAZELTON WADE 
indicated ) 


{unless otherwise 


Our Little African Cousin 

Our Little Alaskan Cousin 

By Mary F. Nixon - Roulet 

Our Little Arabian Cousin 

By Blanche McManus 

Our Little Armenian Cousin 
Our Little Brown Cousin 

Our Little Canadian Cousin 

By Elizabeth R. Macdonald 

Our Little Chinese Cousin 

By Isaac Taylor Headland 

Our Little Cuban Cousin 

Our Little Dutch Cousin 

By Blanche McManus 

Our Little English Cousin 

By Blanche McManus 

Our Little Eskimo Cousin 


Our Little Irish Cousin 
Our Little Italian Cousin 
Our Little Japanese Cousin 
Our Little Jewish Cousin 

Our Little Korean Cousin 

By H. Lee M. Pike 

Our Little Mexican Cousin 

By Edward C. Butler 

Our Little Norwegian Cousin 

Our Little Panama Cousin 

By H. Lee M. Pike 

Our Little Philippine Cousin 
Our Little Porto Rican Cousin 
Our Little Russian Cousin 

Our Little Scotch Cousin 

By Blanche McManus 

Our Little Siamese Cousin 


, Our Little French Cousin 

By Blanche McManus 'Our Little Spanish Cousin 
3 . By Mary F. Nixon -Roulet 

Our Little German Cousin _ . _ .. , .V-' 

. , __ .. Our Little Swedish Cousin 

Our Little Hawaiian Cousin 


Our Little Hindu Cousin 

By Blanche McManus 

Our Little Indian Cousin 
A — 1 


By Claire M. Coburn 

Our Little Swiss Cojisin 
Our Little Turkish Cousin 


THE GOLDENROD LIBRARY 


The Goldenrod Library contains stories which appeal 
alike both to children and to their parents and guardians. 

Each volume is well illustrated from drawings by 
competent artists, which, together with their handsomely 
decorated uniform binding, showing the goldenrod, 
usually considered the emblem of America, is a feature 
of their manufacture. 

Each one volume, small i2mo, illustrated . . $0.35 


LIST OF TITLES 

Aunt Nabby’s Children. By Frances Hodges White. 
Child’s Dream of a Star, The. By Charles Dickens. 
Flight of Rosy Dawn, The. By Pauline Bradford Mackie. 
Findelkind. By Ouida. 

Fairy of the Rhone, The. By A. Comyns Carr. 

Gatty and I. By Frances E. Crompton. 

Helena’s Wonderworld. By Frances Hodges White. 
Jerry’s Reward. By Evelyn Snead Barnett. 

La Belle Nivernaise. By Alphonse Daudet. 

Little King Davie. By Nellie Hellis. 

Little Peterkin Vandike. By Charles Stuart Pratt. 
Little Professor, The. By Ida Horton Cash. 

Peggy’s Trial. By Mary Knight Potter. 

Prince Yellowtop. By Kate Whiting Patch. 

Provence Rose, A. By Ouida. 

Seventh Daughter, A. By Grace Wickham Curran. 
Sleeping Beauty, The. By Martha Baker Dunn. 

Small, Small Child, A. By E. Livingston Prescott. 
Susanne. By Frances J. Delano. 

Water People, The. By Charles Lee Sleight. 

Young Archer, The. By Charles E. Brimblecom. 

A — 2 









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